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HOME SCHOOL 



OF THE 



Century's Progress 

A VOLUME OF ORIGINAL, ENTERTAINING AND INSTRUCTIVE HISTORIC 

AND DESCRIPTIVE WRITINGS, SHOWING THE MANY AND 

MARVELOUS ACHIEVEMENTS WHICH DISTINGUISH 

THE 19TI? CENTURY 

IN 
\ 

Material, Intellectual, fkial amoral program 

EMBRACING AS SUBJECTS ALL THOSE WHICH BEST TYPE THE GENIUS, 
SPIRIT AND ENERGY OF THE AGE, AND SERVE TO BRING INTO 
BRIGHTEST RELIEF THE GRAND MARCH OF IMPROVE- 
MENT IN THE VARIOUS DOMAINS OF 
HUMAN ACTIVITY. 

BY 

J AMES F\ BOYD, A.M., I^.B., 

/ 
Assisted by a Corps of Thirty-two Eminent and Specially Qualified 'Authors. 



Copiouaty anb nDagnificentlp Wlustratefc. 



PHILADELPHIA 
A, J. HOLMAN & CO. 



[Library of Congres» 
^Wv Co«MES RECEIVED 

FEB 20 1901 



Mo 



SECOND COPY 












1 



Copyright, 1899, by W. H. Isbister. 



All Rights Reserved. 



Copyright, 1901, by W. H. Isbister. 



INTRODUCTORY 

Measuring epochs, or eras, by spaces of a hundred years each, that which 
embraces the nineteenth century stands out in sublime and encouraging 
contrast with any that has preceded it. As the legatee of all prior cen- 
turies, it has enlarged and ennobled its bequest to an extent unparalleled 
in history; while it has at the same time, through a genius and energy 
peculiar to itself, created an original endowment for its own enjoyment 
and for the future richer by far than any heretofore recorded. Indeed, 
without permitting existing and pardonable pride to endanger rigid truth, 
it may be said that along many of the lines of invention and progress 
which have most intimately affected the life and civilization of the world, 
the nineteenth century has achieved triumphs and accomplished wonders 
equal, if not superior, to all other centuries combined. 

Therefore, what more fitting time than at its close to pass in pleasing 
and instructive review the numerous material and intellectual achievements 
that have so distinguished it, and have contributed in so many and such 
marvelous ways to the great advance and genuine comfort of the human 
race ! Or, what could prove a greater source of pride and profit than to 
compare its glorious works with those of the past, the better to understand 
and measure the actual steps and real extent of the progress of mankind ! 
Or, what more delightful and inspiring than to realize that the sum of 
those wonderful activities, of which each reader is, or has been, a part, has 
gone to increase the grandeur of a world era whose rays will penetrate and 
brighten the coining centuries ! 

Amid so many and such strong reasons this volume finds excellent cause 
for its being. Its aims are to mirror a wonderful century from the van- 
tage ground of its closing year ; to faithfully trace the lines which mark 
its almost magical advance ; to give it that high and true historic place 
whence its contrasts with the past can be best noted, and its light upon 
the future most directly thrown. 

This task would be clearly beyond the power of a single mind. So rapid 
has progress been during some parts of the century, so amazing have been 
results along the lines of discovery and invention, so various have been the 
fields of action, that only those of special knowledge and training could be 
expected to do full justice to the many subjects to be treated. 

Hence, the work has been planned so as to give it a value far beyond 
what could be imparted by a single mind. Each of the themes chosen to 
type the century's grand march has been treated by an author of special 



ii INTRODUCTORY 

fitness, and high up in his or her profession or calling, with a view to 
securing for readers the best thoughts and facts relating to the remarkable 
events of an hundred years. In this respect the volume is unique and ori- 
ginal. Its authorship is not of one mind, but of a corps of minds, whose 
union assures what the occasion demands. 

The scope, character, and value .of the volume further appear in its very- 
large number and practical feature of subjects selected to show the active 
forces, the upward and onward movements, and the grand results that have 
operated within, and triumphantly crowned, an era without parallel. These 
subjects embrace the sciences of the century in their numerous divisions and 
conquests ; its arts and literature ; industrial, commercial, and financial pro- 
gress ; land and sea prowess ; educational, social, moral, and religious growth ; 
in fact, every field of enterprise and achievement within the space of time 
covered by the work. 

A volume of such variety of subject and great extent affords fine opportu- 
nity for illustration. The publishers have taken full advantage of this, and 
have beautified it in a manner which commends itself to every e} T e and taste. 
Rarely has a volume been so highly and elegantly embellished. Each sub- 
ject is illuminated so as to increase the pleasure of reading and make an 
impression which will prove lasting. 

As to its aim and scope, its number of specially qualified authors, its vigor 
and variety of style and thought, its historic comprehensiveness and exact- 
ness, its great wealth of illustration, its superb mechanism, its various other 
striking features, the volume may readily rank as one of the century's tri- 
umphs, a wonder of industrious preparation, and acceptable to all. At any 
rate, no such volume has ever mirrored any previous century, and none will 
come to reflect the nineteenth century with truer line and color. 

Not only is the work a rare and costly picture, filled in with inspiring 
details by master hands, but it is equally a monument, whose solid base, 
grand proportions, and elegant finish are in keeping with the spirit of the 
era it marks and the results it honors. Its every inscription is a glowing 
tribute to human achievement of whatever kind and wherever the field of 
action may lie, and therefore a happy means of conveying to twentieth cen- 
tury actors the story of a time whose glories they will find it hard to excel. 
May this picture and monument be viewed, studied, and admired by all, so 
that the momentous chapters which round the history of a closing century 
shall avail in shaping the beginnings of a succeeding one. 



AUTHORS AND SUBJECTS 

JAMES P. BOYD, A. M., L. B., 

Wonders of Electricity. 

REAR-ADMIRAL GEORGE WALLACE MELVILLE, 

Chief of Bureau of Steam Engineering, Navy Department, Washington, D. C. 

The Century's Naval Progress. 

SELDEN J. COFFIN, A. M., 

Professor of Astronomy, Lafayette College, Easton, Pa. 

Astronomy during the Century. 

THOMAS MEEHAN, 

Vice-President Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. 

Story of Plant and Flower. 

MARY ELIZABETH LEASE, 

First Woman President of Kansas State Board of Charities. 

Progress of Women within the Century. 

ROBERT P. HAINS, 

Principal Examiner of Textiles, United States Patent Office, Washington, D. C. 

The Century's Textile Progress. 

GEORGE EDWARD REED, S. T. D., LL. D., 

President of Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa. 

The Century's Religious Progress. 

JAMES P. BOYD, A. M., L. B., 

Great Growth of Libraries. 

WILLIAM MARTIN AIKEN, F. A. I. A., 

Former United States Supervising Architect, Treasury Department, Washington, D. C. 

Progress of the Century in Architecture. 

HARVEY W. WILEY, M. D., PH. D., LL. D., 

Chief Chemist of Division of Chemistry, Agricultural Department, Washington, D. C. 

The Century's Progress in Chemistry. 

RITER FITZGERALD, A. M., 
Dramatic Critic " City Item," Philadelphia. 
The Century's Music and Drama. 
JAMES P. BOYD, A. M., L. B., 
The Century's Literature. 
MORRIS JASTROW, JR., PH. D., 
Professor of Semitic Languages, University of Pennsylvania. 
The Records of the Past. 
MAJOR HENRY E. ALVORD, C. E., LL. D., 
Chief of Dairy Division, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 
Progress in Dairy Farming. 
SARA Y. STEVENSON, Sc D., 
Secretary of Department of Archazology and Paleontology, University of Pennsylvania. 
The Century's Moral Progress. 
CHARLES McINTIRE, A. M., M. D., 
Lecturer on Sanitary Science, Lafayette College, Easton, Pa. 
Progress of Sanitary Science. 
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARTHUR L. WAGNER, 
Assistant Adjutant General United States Army. 
The Century's Armies and Arms. 



AUTHORS AND SUBJECTS 

WALDO F. BROWN, 

Agricultural Editor " Cincinnati Gazette.'" 
The Century's Progress in Agriculture. 

WALTER LORING WEBB, C. E., 

Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Pennsylvania. 

Progress in Civil Engineering. 

D. E. SALMON, M. D., 

Chief of Bureau of Animal Industry, Agricultural Department, Washington, D. C. 

The Century's Progress in the Animal World. 

MAJOR-GENERAL JOSEPH WHEELER, 

United States Army, and Member of Congress from Eighth Alabama District. 

Leading Wars of the Century. 

GEORGE J. HAGAR, 

Editor of Appendix to Encyclopaedia Britannica. 

The Century's Fairs and Expositions. 

HON. BRADFORD RHODES, 

Editor of " Banker's Magazine.'" 

The Century's Progress in Coinage, Currency, and Banking. 

H. E. VAN DEMAN, 

Late Professor of Botany arid Practical Horticulture, Kansas State Agricultural College. 

The Century's Progress in Fruit Culture. 

EMORY R. JOHNSON, A. M., 

Assistant Professor of Transportation and Commerce, University of Pennsylvania. 

The Century's Commercial Progress. 

FRANKLIN S. EDMONDS, A. M., 

Assistant Professor of Political Science, Central High School, Philadelphia. 

The Century's Advances in Education. 

THOMAS J. LINDSEY, 

Editorial Staff Philadelphia "Evening Bulletin.'" 

"The Art Preservative." 

GEORGE A. PACKARD, 

Metallurgist and Mining Engineer. 

Progress in Mines and Mining. 

JOHN Y. SEARS, 

Art Critic Philadelphia "Evening Telegraph." 

Art Progress of the Century. 

J. MADISON TAYLOR, M. D., and 

JOHN H. GIBBON, M. D., 

Surgeons Out-Patients Departments of Pennsylvania mid Children's Hospitals. 

The Century's Advance in Surgery. 

FRANK C HAMMOND, M. D., 

Instructor in Gynecology, Jefferson Medical College. 

Progress of Medicine. 

E E. RUSSELL TRATMAN, C. E., 

Assistant Editor of " Engineering News," Chicago, III. 

Evolution of the Railroad. 

LUTHER E. HEWITT, L. B., 

Librarian of Philadelphia Law Association. 

Advance in Law and Justice. 

MICHAEL J. BROWN, 

Secretary of Building Association League of Pennsylvania. 

Progress of Building and Loan Associations. 

REV. A. LEFFINGWELL, 

Rector Trinity Church, Toledo, 0. 

Epoch Makers of the Century. 



ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS 

WONDERS OF ELECTRICITY 

I. At the Dawn of the Century: — Earliest Observations on Electricity — Study of Amber- 
Earliest Electric Machines — Conduction of Electricity — The Leyden Jar — Franklin's Discoveries. 
II. New Nineteenth Century Electricity : — Galvanism — The Voltaic Pile — Davy's Arc- 
light — The Electro-magnet — Faraday's Discoveries — The Induction Coil — Fields of Force. III. 
The Telegraph: —First Successful Telegraphy — The Morse System — Improvements in Tele- 
graphy — Ocean Telegraphy. IV. Hello! Hello! — Invention of the Telephone — Principle of 
the Telephone — Transmitter and Receiver — Uses of the Telephone — The Phonograph, Gram- 
ophone, and Graphophone. V. Dynamo and Motor: — The First Motor — Perfection of the 
Dynamo — How it generates Electricity — Principle and Uses of the Motor. VI. "And there 
was Light:" — Various Lights of the Past — Era of Electric Lighting — Arc and Incandescent 
Lamps — Principles of Each — Value of Electric Light. VII. Electric Locomotion: — Passing 
of the Horse and Traction Car — Introduction of the Trolley — Features of the Electric Railway 
— The Storage Battery and Horseless Carriage. VIII. The X Ray: — Discovery of — What the 
X Raj r is — Photographing by Means of the X Ray. IX. Other Electrical Wonders: — 
Electric Clocks — Electrotyping and Electroplating, etc. X. Electrical Language . .19-54 



THE CENTURY'S NAVAL PROGRESS 

t. Influence of Sea Power: — Sea Powers throughout the World — Enumeration of Great 
Naval Wars. II. The Century's Growth in Naval Strength: — American Navies at Dif- 
ferent Eras — European Fleets — South American and Chinese Navies. III. The Battleship 
Past and Present: — The Old Fighting Frigate — Evolution of the Modern Man-of-War — Com- 
parison of Frigate with Ironclad. IV. Progress of Naval Engineering: — Nelson's Vision 
— The 14,500 Miles Steaming of the Oregon — Revolution in Mechanism and Material — Types of 
Great Battleships — Introduction and Advantages of Steam — Invention of the Screw Propeller — 
Improvement in Boilers and Engines — The Revolving Turret — Cruiser and Torpedo Craft — 
Phenomenal Speed. V. The Growth of Ordnance: — Description of Various Guns and Pro- 
jectiles — Power of Modern Explosives. VI. The Development of Armor: — Its Necessity 
in Naval Warfare — How it is made, tested, and put on. VII. The Ram and Torpedo: — 
Evolution of the Ram — Introduction of the Torpedo — Various Kinds of Torpedoes. VIII. The 
United States Fleet: — Whence it sprang and how it has grown — Its Ships, Officers, and 
Men — Official Naval Ranks — The Naval Academy — Passage of the United States to a World 
Power 55-86 



ASTRONOMY DURING THE CENTURY 

h Astronomy a Century ago: — Discovery of Uranus. II. How "Bode's Law" promoted 
Research: — Further Discover}' of Planets — Celestial Photography. III. How Neptune was 
found: — Le Verrier, "First Astronomer of the Age." IV. Meteorites: — Meteoric Showers 
— Various Large Meteorites. V. Do Meteors often strike the Earth: — The "Fire-ball" 
of 1860. VI. Astronomical Observatories: — Their Equipment and Work — Number of Ob- 
servatories. VII. Improved Instruments: — Their Effect on the Science. VIII. The Spec- 
troscope: — Its Triumphs — Elements discovered. IX. Work in a Large Observatory: — 
Discovery of Comets and Nebuhe. X. Washington National Observatory: — Its Instru- 
ments. XL Star Maps and Catalogues: — Number of Stars — The Planisphere. XII. 
Astronomical Books and Writers: — Number of Students of Astronomy. XIII. Practical 
Uses of Astronomy: — Its Help in Navigation — Uses in Geodesy. XIV. Notable Astro- 
nomical Epochs: — Clock Regulation — Invention of Chronograph and Spectroscope — Great 
Telescopes. XV. Discarded Theories: — Are Planets inhabited? — The Orrery. XVI. Fu- 
ture Astronomical Problems: — How long will the Sun endure? . .87-104 



vi ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS 

STORY OF PLANT AND FLOWER 

Early History of Botany — The Father of Modern Botany — Botany at the Beginning of the Nine- 
teenth Century — Natural System of Classification — Advance in Study of Plant Behavior — 
Illustrations from the Peanut and Grape-vine — Plant Motions as regards Forms — Origin and 
Development of Plant Life — The Doctrine of Evolution — Nutrition of Plants — Fertilization of 
Flowers — Insectivorous and Cruel Plants — Vegetable Physiology — Advance in Relation to 
Cryptogamic Plants — Geographical Botany — Herbariums and Botanical Gardens . . . 105-114 



PROGRESS OF WOMEN WITHIN THE CENTURY 

Woman's Misconception of her Rights — Former Oppression — Cosmic and Moral Processes — What 
Christianity has done for Women — Hardship of the Pauline Grip — The True Mission of Woman 
— Improvement in her Education — Female Occupations — Competition with Men — Woman in 
the Literary Field — In Philanthropy and Morals — Women's Clubs — Woman in Politics — The 
constantly Broadening Field of Woman's Influence 115-124 



THE CENTURY'S TEXTILE PROGRESS 

Antiquity of Textile Industry — The Distaff, Spindle, and Loom among Chinese, Egyptians, and 
Greeks — Introduction of the Spinning-wheel — Loom of the Eighteenth Century — The Fly- 
shuttle — Textiles at the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century — Invention of the Spinning Jenny 

— Arkwright's Drawing-rollers — Whitney's Cotton-gin — Its Influence — Invention of the Spin- 
ning-mule — The Spinning-frame — Rapid Improvements in Spinning Machinery — Evolution of 
the Spindle — Increase of Speed — Introduction of the Carding-machine — Carding-combs — Ad- 
vent of Power-looms — Description of their Machinery and Products — The Jacquard Loom — 
Of Pile Fabrics — The Bigelow Loom —How Tufted Pile Fabrics are made — Weaving of Fancy 
Cloths — Various Forms of Looms — Hair-cloth Looms — Weaving of Tubular Fabrics — Infinitude 
of Uses to which the Loom can be put — The Coming Automatic Loom — Advent of the Knitting- 
machine — Its Wonderful Perfection and Products — The Century's Patents of Textile Machinery 

— Beautv of Textile Art —Its Influence on Taste and Comfort 125-146 



THE CENTURY'S RELIGIOUS PROGRESS 

Religious Status in Eighteenth Century, in England, France, and on the Continent — Condition in 
the United States — The Reign of Skepticism — Doctrinal Divisions in the Churches — The Nine- 
teenth Century Revival — Variety and Growth of Religions in the United States — Freedom of the 
Church — Kinship of Denominations — Increase in Material and Spiritual Forces — Church Edi- 
fices and Capacities — Religious Population — Number of Communicants — Distribution of Com- 
municants — Ministers and Organizations — Missionary Enterprises — Service of Religion in 
Education, Philanthropy, and Reform — Gifts to Educational Institutions — Growth of Chari- 
table Institutions — Religion and Republican Institutions . . 147-158 



GREAT GROWTH OF LIBRARIES 

Antiquity of Libraries — Evidences of Civilized Progress — Character of Ancient Writings — Books 
of Clay — Mesopotamian Literature — Egyptian Hieroglyphics — Papyrus Manuscripts — Sacred 
Books of Thoth — Greek Libraries — Their Number and Extent — Roman Libraries — Imperial 
Library of Constantinople — Effects of Christianity upon Literature — Church Book-making and 
Collecting — All Books written or copied by Priests — Fate of Monastic Libraries — Early Libraries 
in France — Royal Libraries in Europe — The French National Library — Introduction of Copy- 
right — Growth and Extent of European Libraries — Their Location and Management — The Brit- 
ish Museum — Libraries of Great Britain — Canadian Libraries — English Colonial Libraries — 
Libraries of the Latin Republics — Phenomenal Growth of Libraries in the United States — Wide 
Ramification of the System — The Oldest United States Library — Colonial Libraries — Libraries 
of 1800 — Number founded during the Century — State Libraries — School-district Libraries — 
Library Systems — The Library of Congress — Its Vast Extent and New Repository— Copyright 
System — United States Free Libraries — Noted Libraries of the Country— Libraries of over 
100,000 Volumes — Munificence of Library Founders — Noted Givers to Libraries — Progress in 
Library Management 159-170 



ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS vii 

PROGRESS OF THE CENTURY IN ARCHITECTURE 

English Architecture at the Beginning of the Century — The Queen Anne Style — French Archi- 
tecture and Architects — Architectural Styles in Germany, Austria, Italy, Greece, Turkey, and 
throughout Europe — Canadian Styles and Notable Buildings — Early Architecture in the United 
States — Old New England and Southern Homes — The Colonial Styles— The White House and 
United States Capitol — Progress in Public Building Architecture — Notable Changes after the 
War of 1812 — The Gothic Cottage and Italian Villa — The First School of Architecture — Compari- 
son of Styles in Different Cities — Introduction of Iron — Styles for Hotels and Summer Resorts — 
Effect of Chicago and Boston Fires on Architecture — How the Centennial Exposition changed 
Styles — Church and Library Architecture — The Congressional Library and Other Notable Speci- 
mens of American Architecture — Advent of the Sky-scraper — General Review of Architectural 
Effects —Monumental Works the Poetrv of Architecture 171-190 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN CHEMISTRY 

Status of Chemical Science ** Beginning of the Century — The Century's Main Lines of Progress: I. 
Inorganic and Physical Chemistry: — Lavoisier's Cardinal Propositions — Rapid Advance 
of Chemical Science — Sir Humphrey Davy's Achievements — Elementary Bodies of Eighteenth 
Century — Same in Nineteenth Century. II. Physical Chemistry: — Properties of Elements 
— Of Matter and Energy — Rates of Reaction — Conditions of Equilibrium. III. Organic 
Chemistry: — Of Carbon Compounds — Theory of Substitution — Atoms in the Molecule — Space 
Relations — The Carbon Atom — The Organic Body. IV. Analytical Chemistry: —Develop- 
ment of the Blow-pipe — Gas Analysis — Electricity as a Factor — Discovery of Spectrum Analysis. 
V. Synthetical Chemistry: — Building up of Complex Forms — Synthesis of Coloring Mat- 
ters and Sugars — Future Food of Man. VI. Metallurgical Chemistry: — Oldest Branch of 
Chemical Science — Reduction of Ores — Advantage to Agriculture. VII. Agricultural 
Chemistry: — Utilization of Fertilizers — Nitrogen as a Plant Food — Advantages to Practical 
Agriculture. VIII. Graphic Chemistry: — Fundamental Principles — Daguerreotype and 
Photograph. IX. Didactic Chemistry: — The Student and the Laboratory — Advantages of 
Laboratory Training. X. Chemistry ok Fermentation: — Bacterial Action — Process of Di- 
gestion — ■ Decay of Meats and Vegetables — Sterilization — Fermentation. XI. Electro-Chem- 
istry: — Combination of Carbon with Metals — Uses of Electricity in Chemistry. Conclusion. 

191-206 

THE CENTURY'S MUSIC AND DRAMA 

I. Eighteenth Century Music: — Leading Composers — Nineteenth Century Music — The Great 
Composers and their Works — Different Schools and Styles of Composition — Analysis of Operas — 
Musical Characteristics of the Nations — Verdi and Wagner compared — The American Opera. 
II. The Drama: — The Theatre of the Past — Great Modern Improvement — Scenery and Ap- 
pointments — Actors and Actresses — The Century's Illustrious Role — Theatres in the United 
States — Character of Actors — Public Estimation of the Drama 207-214 



THE CENTURY'S LITERATURE 

Contrast with Eighteenth Century Literature — Tone of Modern Literature — How it types Progress 
— English Literature — Literature of Other Nations — Various Authors — English Criticism of 
American Literature — Newspaper Literature — Evolution of the Newspaper — Newspapers of the 
Nations — Nineteenth Century Journalism — Beginning of Newspaper Enterprise in the United 
States — Colonial Papers — Papers of the Revolution — Appearance of the Daily — The Penny 
Press — Newspaper Growth up to 1861 — War Journalism — The Sunday Newspaper — Illustrated 
Journalism — Reaction in Newspaper Prices — Cost of running a Newspaper — Number of World's 
Newspapers — The Comic Paper — Evolution of the Magazine — Growth of Magazine in the United 
States — Character of Magazine Literature — Advent of the Cheap Magazine — Features of 
Publication 215-230 



THE RECORDS OF THE PAST 

Extension of Knowledge into the Past — Spade of the Archaeologist — General View of the Revela- 
tions — Documents of Stone, Clay, and Papyrus — Assyrian Revelations — Egyptian Explorations 
— Eloquence of Obelisk, Tomb, and Pyramid — Cuneiform Scripts of Babylon — Discovery of the 



iii ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS 

Rosetta Stone — Champollion's Key — Story of the Ruins in Greece and Rome — Revelation of 
Temples and Statues — Phoenician Remains — The Moabite Stone — Ruins in Palestine — Revela- 
tions in Jerusalem — Hittite Remains — Continuing Interest in Archaeological Discovery — Vast 
Importance from an Historic Point of View 231-244 



PROGRESS IN DAIRY FARMING 

Requisites for Successful Dairying — Enterprise of Dairying Districts — Advantages of Dairying — 
Dairying Areas — Dairying at the Beginning of the Century — Early Methods — The Great Change 
midway of the Century — Improvement in Milch Cows — Growth of Cheese-Making — Institution 
of Creameries —Application of Mechanics to Dairying — Dairy Associations — Best Dairy Breeds 

— Invention of the Separator— Its Operation and Advantages — The Fat-test for Milk — Growth 
in Butter-making Illustrated — Labor in Dairying— Dairy and Food Commissions — Dairying 
Publications — City Milk Supplies — Annual Production of Cheese — Character of Cheeses — 
Annual Butter Product — Butter and Cheese-producing States — Number and Value of Cows — 
Dairy Values as compared with Value of Other Products — Necessity for guarding Dairy Interests. 

245-26© 

THE CENTURY'S MORAL PROGRESS 

Morals among the Ancients — Moral Precepts common to all Communities — Evolution of Ethics — 
Early Christian Morals — Spirit of the Reformation — Low Moral Condition of the Eighteenth 
Century — Birth of a New Moral Epoch — A National Conscience — Abolition of Slavery — Larger 
Application of the Principles of Right and Justice — How Women are affected— Effect of Inven- 
tion and Education on Social and Moral Conditions — Broadening of Woman's Sphere — Increase 
of Self-respect — Influence of Women on Moral Status — Legislation and Morals — How to meet 
Ethical Problems — Business Success and the Moral State — Rights and Duties of Capital and 
Labor — Cruelties of War and Blessings of Peace — The Century's Moral Gain — Changed Treat- 
ment of Vice and Poverty —The Principle of Well-doing— Growth of Tolerance and Altruism — 
A Higher Individual and Public Conscience 261-270 

PROGRESS OF SANITARY SCIENCE 

Hygienic Code of Moses — Hippocrates and Disease — Sanitation and Sanitary Science — Founda- 
tion Rules — Spirit of Scientific Investigation — Effect of Act of Parliament of 1837 — Value of 
Official Figures — The Riddle of Samson — Health Reports in United States — Duty of Separate 
States — Mortality in London of Filth Diseases — Progress of Sanitation — Diminution of Scourges 

— Effect of Sanitation upon the Weak and Helpless —Value of Culture Tubes — Discovery of 
Disease Causes — Of Trichinae in Pork — Communicable Diseases caused by Living Organisms — 
Infectious and Contagious Diseases —Uses of Biology in Sanitary Science — Purification of 
Waters — Of Consumption and Cholera — Effects of Filtration— What Bacteria are— Of Isola- 
tion and Disinfection— Modern Quarantines —Fumigation of Ships — Lowering of Death Rates 

— Influence of the Sanitarium— Improved Construction of Dwellings — Care for Paving and 
Sewage — Disposal of Refuse — Of Food Inspection — State Boards of Health — Care of Employes 

— Of Play and Athletic Grounds — Public Breathing Spaces — Duty of Caring for Personal 
Health — Bearing of Public Health on Community and Nation 271-282 



THE CENTURY'S ARMIES AND ARMS 

Armies and Arms of the Eighteenth Century — Alteration in War Methods — European Army Sys- 
tems—Changes made by Napoleon — Battle Weapons and Tactical Movements — Growing Use of 
Cannon— The Congreve Rocket — Infantry Formations — The Introduction of the Rifle— The 
Crimean War and Rifled Siege Guns— The Italian War and Rifled Cannon — Advent of the 
Breech-loader— Introduction of Heavy Guns— Arms and Tactics in the Civil War — Use of 
Steam and Electricity in War — Advantage of Railroad and Telegraph — Introduction of Armored 
Vessels —Siege Artillery — Advent of the Machine Gun —New System of Entrenchment— Ger- 
man Military System — Coming of the Needle Gun — French Military System — Comparison of 
Russian and* Turkish Methods — Strength of the World's Armies— United States Army Organiza- 
tion— Steel Guns and Smokeless Powder — Improvement in Mortars — The Dynamite Gun — 
Modern Shrapnel — Sea-Coast Guns — Perfection of Modern Rifles — Their Great Range and 
p 0W er— The Gatling Gun— The Maxim Automatic — Introduction of the Torpedo — General 
Review of the Increase in Military Efficiency 283-306 



ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS ix 

THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN AGRICULTURE 

I. Vicissitudes of Early Farming: — First National Road — Canal Building — Coming of Rail- 
roads — Farming Conditions before the 50's — Hardships of Marketing. II. Improvements in 
Farm Implements and Machinery:— Farmers' Draft upon Nature — The Sickle, Flail, and 
Cradle — Coming of Harvesters — Improvement in Threshers — Portable and Traction Engines — 
Separators and Stackers — Improvements in Other Implements. III. Improvement in Stock: 
— Various Breeds of Cattle — Breeding of Horses, Sheep, and Swine — Best Breeds. IV. Im- 
provement in Farming Methods: — In Drainage — Care of Animals — Barns and Stabling — 
Proper Food Rations — Fencing. V. Home Improvements: — Home Architecture — The Yard 
and Garden — Maintaining Soil Fertility — Proper Manures — Soil Analysis — Use of Modern 
Fertilizers. VI. Improvement in Agricultural Knowledge: —Agricultural Literature — 
Farmers' Clubs and Institutes — Granges — Agricultural Colleges — Experimental Stations — The 
Department of Agriculture — Bureau of Animal Industry — Agricultural Newspapers and Peri- 
odicals — Summary of Agricultural Progress 307-338 



PROGRESS IN CIVIL ENGINEERING 

I. An Introductory View: — Antiquity of Engineering — Ancient Roads and Bridges — Nine- 
teenth Century Advances. II. Bridges: — Primitive Bridges — Iron and Steel Bridges — The 
Brooklyn Bridge — Niagara Suspension Bridge — Pecos River Viaduct — The Forth Bridge — Re- 
markable Arches — Stone Bridges. III. Caissons: — Invention of the Caisson —Its Principle 
and Use — Caisson Adventures. IV. Canals: — The First Suez Canal —Nicaragua and Panama 
Canals — Modern Suez Canal — The Manchester Canal — Chicago Drainage Canal — What it is 
for. V. Geodesy: —Ancient Methods of Earth Measurements — The Century's Advance in 
Methods of Measurement. VI. Railroads: — Their Invention and Development — Immense 
Value. VII. Tunnels: — Ancient Origin of — Tunnels of Egypt, Babylonia, and India — Roman 
Tunnels — Of the Modern Tunnel — Advance in Machinery and Constructive Processes — Mount 
Cenis Tunnel — Tunnel Surveying and Excavating — The Hoosac Tunnel — St. Gothard Tunnel 
— St.* Clair Tunnel — Its Construction and Commercial Effects 339-360 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN THE ANIMAL WORLD 

. Of Animal Diseases: — Effect of Napoleonic Wars — Various Animal Diseases — How con- 
trolled. II. Increase in Number of Animals: — Showing in Europe, United States, and 
Other Countries. III. Improvement of Breeds: — Shortening the Time of Growth - Develop- 
ment of Dairy and Beef Breeds — Improvement in Wool Growing — Poultry Breeds — Thorough- 
bred Horses — The American Trotter — Animal Exports — Foreign Animal Imports — Displace- 
ment of Horses by Mechanical Motors — Prices of Animal Products — American Command of 
World's Animal Markets 361-374 



LEADING WARS OF THE CENTURY 

. Wars of the United States: — First War with Barbary States — Indian Wars — War of 
1812 — Battles by Land and Sea — Exploits on the Lakes — Victory of New Orleans — Second 
War with Barbarj' States — The Mexican War — General Taylor's Victories — Siege of Vera 
Cruz — General Scott's March and Battles — Capture of Mexico — Results of the War — The Civil 
War, 1861-65 — Secession of States — Calling out the Armies — Building of the Navies — The 
First Battles — Operations in 1862 — Battles of 1863 — The Emancipation Proclamation — The 
Turning Point at Gettysburg — Opening of the Mississippi — Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge 
— Battles of 1864 — Appomattox and Surrender — The Spanish-American War — Its Causes — 
Destruction of Spanish Fleet in Manila Bay — Destruction of Cervera's Fleet — Capitulation of 
Santiago — Invasion of Porto Rico. II. Foreign Wars: — Wars of Napoleon — Battle of Ma- 
rengo — Treaty of Amiens — Third Coalition against France — Battle of Austerlitz — Nelson's 
Victory at Trafalgar — Wars of the Fourth Coalition — Wars of the Fifth Coalition — Wars of the 
Sixth Coalition — Battle of Waterloo — Final Defeat of Napoleon — Greek Wars for Independence — 
Battle of Navarino — Greek Independence — French Revolution of 1830 — Polish Insurrection — 
England's Wars in India — French Republic of 1848 — Hungarian Wars for Independence — Italian 
Wars — The Crimean War — Sebastopol and Balaklava — Peace of Paris — The Indian Mutiny — 
Wars of the Alliance against Austria — Battle of Solferino — Danish Wars — Wars for German 
Unitj- — Verdict of Sadowa — The Franco-Prussian War — Siege and Capture of Paris — The French 
Republic — The Turco-Russian War — Chino-Japanese War — Greco-Turkish War — Interference 
of the Powers — Wars in the Soudan — Review of the Century's Martial Results . . . 375-420 



x ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS 

THE CENTURY'S FAIRS AND EXPOSITIONS 

The Primitive Fair — Growth and Influence of Fairs — Their History in Different Countries — Of 
Agricultural Fairs, Societies, and Institutes — Their Origin and Purpose — National and State 
Agricultural Departments — Sanitary Fairs — Special Exhibitions — Evolution of International 
Expositions — The First World's Exposition at London — Expositions at Dublin, Paris, New- 
York — Continental Expositions — Second and Third Expositions at London and Paris — The 
Vienna Exposition — The Centennial at Philadelphia — Description of Subsequent Expositions at 
Atlanta, Louisville, New Orleans, Chicago, Nashville, and Omaha — The American Commercial 
Museums 421-442 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN COINAGE, CURRENCY, AND BANKING 

I. Banks and Banking Resources: — Banks as Gauges of Wealth — Civilization reflected in 
Monetary Machinery — Features of United States Financial Policy — Gold Store of Various 
Countries — Banking Resources — Number and Resources of Banks. II. Coinage and Produc- 
tion of Precious Metals: — Why Gold is a Standard — Primitive Measures of Value — His- 
tory of Coinage — First United States Mint — Coin Ratios — Gold and Silver Production and 
Mintage — Exports and Imports of Precious Metals — Circulation per Capita — Coinage Act of 
1873. III. Early Banking in the United States: — First Banking Associations — First United 
States Bank and its Branches — Early State Banks — Second United States Bank — How it fell — 
State Banks and Independent Treasury. IV. History of Legal Tender Notes: — The 
Treasury Reserve — Treasury Notes — Manner of Issue and Redemption. V. The National 
Banking System: — Formation of National Banks — Laws and Regulations — Number and 
Circulation. VI. Foreign Banking and Finance: — Banks of England and the Continent of 
Europe — Their Strength and Methods. VII. United States Government Debt since 1857: 
— Gross Receipts and Expenditures — Interest Charges. VIII. Postal Savings Banks: — Why 
they are not adopted in the United States. IX. Savings Banks in the United States: — 
Their Number and Strength. X. The Clearing House: — How conducted — Its Economic 
Uses. XI. Panics of the Century and Their Causes 443-470 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN FRUIT CULTURE 

Early Cultivation of Fruits — Beauty and Uses of Fruits — Fruits brought to the New World — 
Culture at the Beginning of the Century — Early Fruit Districts — The Experimental Stage — 
Pioneers in Culture — The Age of Progress — First Commercial Orchards — The Age of Triumph 

— Spread of Culture in Various States and Areas— Revolution in Science of Fruit Growing — 
Success and Failure of Different Species — Vine Culture — Improved Culture with Implements 

— Home Consumption and Export of Fruits — Our Fruits a Favorite in Europe — Apple Culture 

— Uses of Apples— Typical Orchards —Notable Varieties — Extent of Apple Orchards — Apple 
Exports — Progress in the Culture of Other Fruits — Varieties and Best Soils — History and Pro- 
gress of Berry Culture — The Citrous Fruits — Where and how grown — Their Great Value to 
Man — General Review of Fruit Culture and Fruits 471-490 



THE CENTURY'S COMMERCIAL PROGRESS 

I. World's Commerce at End of Eighteenth Century: —Methods of Traffic — Volume of 
Trade. II. Revolution in Commerce: — Change from Sails to Steam — First Ocean Steamers 

— Steamship Lines — Change from Wood to Iron — The Compound Engine — Advent of Steel 
Vessels — The Twin Screw — Immense Size of Ships — Their Great Velocity — Appointment and 
Service. III. Improvement in Commercial Auxiliaries: — Betterment of Waterways — Ship 
Canals — Harbor Improvements — Cable and Banking Facilities. IV. Expansion of Inter- 
national Trade: — European Commercial Growth — Food Importations. V. Trade of the 
United States: — Extent of Domestic and Foreign— Vast Extension — Imports and Exports — 
Character of. VI. The American Marine : — Former Carrying Trade — Modern Carrying Trade 

— Decline of United States Maritime Importance. VII. American Shipbuilding. VIII. Causes 
for the Century's Commercial Progress: — Economic, Political, and Social Causes. IX. 
The Twentieth Century Prospect 491-514 



ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS xi 

EDUCATION DURING THE CENTURY 

Education a Hundred Years ago — Pestalozzi's Influence — Froebel's Kindergarten System — Its 
Introduction into the United States — English and German Schools — Great European Teachers 

— Foundation of Public School Systems in the United States — The Battles for Public Schools — 
Immensity of Common School Systems — Number of Schools and Pupils — Expenditure for 
Schools — Primitive Schoolhouses — Old-time Teachers and Methods — The Modern Schoolhouse 

— Improvements in Teachers and Methods — Of the High School — College and University — 
Teachers' Institutes — State Associations — School Publications — National Bureau of Education — 
Normal Schools — Teachers' Salaries — Girls' Seminaries — Change to Female Teachers — Modern 
School Furnishings — Text-books — University Courses of Lectures — Schools of Manual Training 
and Business — Education of the Negro Race — Experiment of Booker T.Washington — School 
Funds — Compulsory Education 515-542 



"THE ART PRESERVATIVE" 

. The Printing Press: — Printing Art in the Eighteenth Century — Franklin's Influence — The 
Hand Press — Various Improved Presses — Coming of the Power Press — Order of the Countries 
in Printing Progress — Impetus to Printing in the United States — Wonderful Improvement in 
Presses — How a Swift-motioned Press operates — Quadruple Presses — Printing, Folding, and 
Pasting — Counting and Delivering — The Sextuple Press — Its Wonderful Achievements — Color 
Printing Presses. II. The Setting of Type: — The Art at the Beginning of the Century — Dawn 
of Mechanical Composition — First Type-setting Machines — The Linotype — How it sets Type. 

III. Other Events in the Printing Line: —Old Methods of spreading News — Modern 
Electric Methods — Cables and Overland Wires — Vast Extent of Newspapers — Code Systems. 

IV. Type-making, Stereotyping, and Picture-making: — From Wood to Metal Type — Intro- 
duction of the Type Foundry — The Stereotyping Process — How it preserves Type — Introduction 
of Electrotyping — Its Advantages in Printing — Disappearance of Wood Engraving — The Art of 
Illustration — Triumph of Mechanical Processes in Printing — Tendency of the Future . 543-570 



PROGRESS IN MINES AND MINING 

Search for American Mines — Progress of Mining prior to 1800 — Methods at Beginning of the Cen- 
tury — Coal Mining Methods — Hoisting and Ventilation — Introduction of Steam — European 
and South American Mines — Mining in the United States — Opening of Mines— Various Work- 
ing Appliances — Invention of Davy's Safety Lamp — The Safety Fuse — Mine Elevators — 
Mining at the Middle of the Century — Gold and Copper Mines of United States — Uses of Man 
Engine — Hoisting Machines — Pumping Engines — Introduction of Machine and Dynamite — ■ 
Uses of Compressed Air — Mine Ventilation — Improved Fans — Coal-cutting Machines — Placer 
and Hydraulic Mining for Gold — The Timbering of Mines — Lake Superior Iron Mining — Room 
Mining — Rise of Mining Schools and Societies — Mining Laws in England and United States — 
Unwise Action of Congress — Mining Claims and Rights — Miners' Qualifications . . . 571-586 



ART PROGRESS OF THE CENTURY 

I. Painting: — Effect of the French Revolution on Fine Art — Rapid Advance of French Art — 
Artists and their Works — Revolution of 1830 — English Art and Artists — Landscape Art — Mil- 
let's " Angelus " — The Landseer Family — Ruskin's Influence on English Art — Edwin Abbe}' as 
a Colorist — Works of Rosa Bonheur — Later English Masters — Continental Artists — American 
Masters — Rise of American Art Schools — Their Influence on Art — Some Distinguished Schools 
— Era of Excessive Coloring — American Landscapes — Women Artists of America — Their Style 
and Influence — Scandinavian Artists — Modern Art in Scotland — Masterpieces in European Gal- 
leries — Masters of Current Art in America — Some of their Great Works. II. Sculpture: — 
Old World Sculptors at Beginning of Century — Centres of the Art — Advance in Different Coun- 
tries — Masterpieces — American Sculpture — Notable Artists and their Works — Characteristics 
of Sculptors — Effect of the Columbian Exposition — Names and Works of Modern Sculptors. 

587-614 

THE CENTURY'S ADVANCE IN SURGERY 

Surgery at the Dawn of the Century — Methods in Early Part of the Century — Discovery of Anaes- 
thesia — Its Great Advantages — Antiseptic Surgery — Healing by First Intent — Setting of Frac- 



ii ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS 

tures — Modern Treatment of Bone Diseases — Of Amputations — Control of Hemorrhages — Ad- 
vance in Wound Treatment — Surgery of the Alimentary Canal — Stomach Surgery — Kidney and 
Bladder Surgery — Hernia or Rupture — Of Diseases of Female Organs — Modern Brain Surgery 
— Its Wonderful Advance — Astounding Operations — The Rontgen or X Rays — Their Value in 
Surgery — General Review of Surgical Progress ■ 615-630 



PROGRESS OF MEDICINE 

Early Medical Science — Progress to Beginning of Nineteenth Century — Famous Ancient Physi- 
cians — Noted Schools of Medicine — Medical Charlatans — Evolution of Medical Remedies — 
Important Changes in Treatment — First American Schools of Medicine — Advance in Materia 
Medica — Growth of Medical Associations — Medical Literature — High Standard of Modern Med- 
ical Education — Students and Colleges — Tendency to Special Practice — Great Importance of 
Modern Medical Discoveries — Use of Anaesthetics in Medicine — Advance in Physiology and 
Anatomy — Importance of Trained Nurses — Review of Medical Progress 631-642 



EVOLUTION OF THE RAILWAY 

First Railways — Vast Development — Uses of Railways — Importance to Farmers and Producers — 
Various Railway Systems — Government Ownership and Operation — Mileage of Railways — The 
World's Great Railways — Methods of building and operating Railways in Different Countries — 
Bridge Structures — Use of Steel Rails — Railway Signals— The Block System — Single and 
Double Tracks — First Steam Locomotives — Weight and Power of Modern Locomotives — The 
Old-fashioned Passenger Car — Luxury of the Modern Palace Car — Improvement in Freight Cars 

— The Modern Air-brake — Advance in Train Equipment and Service — Rates of Speed — Railway 
Mail Service — Passenger and Freight Rates — Railway as compared with Water Transportation 

— Railway Labor — Relief Associations and Insurance — Mountain Railways — Rapid Transit — ■ 
Military Railways — Portable and Ship Railways 643-664 



ADVANCE IN LAW AND JUSTICE 

Progress in International Law — Its Subdivisions — Law-making Bodies — Powers and Duties of 
Legislators — Courts of Justice — Duties of Judges — Of Jurors — Of Civil Procedure — Codifica- 
tion of Laws — Criminal Jurisprudence — Punishments for Crimes — Capital Punishment — Po- 
lice Powers — Rights of Married Women under Law — Laws regarding Parents and Children — 
Transfer of Real Estate — Copyright Laws —Their Effect on Publication — Admiralty Laws — Of 
Seamen and Shipping — Advance in Corporation Laws — Laws relating to Religion — Of Religious 
Freedom — General Review of Legal Progress 665-676 



EVOLUTION OF BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS 

I. General, Principles : — Objects and Uses of Building Associations — Explanation of the System 
— The Various Plans of Operation — Loan Series — Maturity and Payment of Shares — Cost of 
Shares and Loans — Early History of These Associations — Their Character abroad — History 
of American Associations — The First Founded — Eulogies of Building Societies — Vast Membership 
and Capital — Management in Respective States — Amounts returned to Members — Teachers of 
Practical Thrift — Value of One's Own Home — Comfort for Those of Modest Means — Makers 
of Better Citizens — Duties of Officers and Members — Responsibility of Members — Size and Cost 
of Houses usually built — Typical Houses — The Social Features of Building Societies . 677-690 



EPOCH-MAKERS OF THE CENTURY 

Statesmen, Orators, and Jurists — Great Generals — Naval Heroes — Noted Preachers and Teachers 
— Eminent Historians — Distinguished Editors — Noted Scientists — Leading Philanthropists — 
Famous Inventors — Popular Novelists — Greatest Poets — Best Actors and Lyric Dramatists. 

691-720 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



PAGE 



"Triumphs and Wonders of the XIX Century" Frontispiece 

Puck 19 

Old Franklin Electrical Machine 20 

Leyden Jar 22 

Franklin Institute, Philadelphia 23 

Induction Coil 25 

Magnetic Fields of Force 26 

Daniell's Cells 27 

Morse Telegraph and Battery 27 

Samuel Finley Breese Morse 28 

Cyrus W. Field 28 

Ocean Cable 29 

Great Eastern laying an Ocean Cable 31 

A String Telephone 32 

Thomas Alva Edison. Full page 32 

A Graphophone 35 

A Dynamo ................ 37 

The Golden Candlestick 39 

An Ancient Lamp 39 

A Tallow Dip 40 

Modern Lamp . ...» .......... . 40 

Electric Arc Light ................ 43 

Electric Locomotive. From Electrical Age 45 

Electric Railway — Third Rail System 47 

Geissler's Tubes 49 

Sciagraph or Shadow Picture 50 

An August Morning with Farragut . 56 

British Battleship Majestic 57 

French Battleship Magenta 57 

German Battleship Woerth 58 

Italian Battleship Sardegna "59 

Nelson's Flagship Victory 60 

Constitution (1812) under Sail. Permission of the artist. Full page 61 

Side View of Constitution. Full page 63 

The U. S. Steamship Oregon. Copyright by W. H. Rau. Full page 65 

Action between Monitor and Merrimac 66 

The Turbinia — Fastest Craft afloat. Permission of S. S. McClure Co. .... 67 

Engine of U. S. Steamship Powhatan, A. D. 1849. Full page 68 

Engine of U. S. Steamer Ericcson 69 

Battle of Trafalgar. Full page 71 

The Growth of Ordnance. Four cuts. Full page 73 

The Distribution of Armor. Twelve cuts. Full page 78-79 

The Growth of Armor. Eight cuts. Full page 81 

The Movement of Uranus and Neptune 89 

Professor James H. Coffin 91 

The Lick Observatory, Mount Hamilton, Cal. Full page 93 

The Spectroscope 94 

Yerkes Telescope, University of Chicago. Full page 95 

Professor William Harkness 97 

Zenith Telescope, made for University of Pennsylvania 100 

Three-inch Transit. By Warner & Swasey .' . . . 103 

Carolus Linnaeus of Sweden 105 

The Green Rose 106 

Head of White Clover, with Branch from Centre 107 



xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

The Peanut-Pod Magnified 108 

Outline of White Dogwood Flower 109 

Yellow Toad-Flax in Peloria State 110 

Grained Corn-Tassel HI 

Banana Flowers 112 

The Cruel Plant 113 

Old Potato penetrated by Rootlet 113 

Fungus growing from Head of Caterpillar 114 

Marv Elizabeth Lease 117 

Emma Willard 119 

George Eliot 121 

Frances Willard 123 

Distaff and Spindle 126 

Spinning Wheel 126 

Primitive Hand Loom 127 

Early Spinning Jenny 128 

Ginning Cotton. Old way prior to 1800 129 

Ginning Cotton. New way . 129 

The Modern Mule 130 

Hand Comb of the Eighteenth Century 131 

Noble Comb of 1890 132 

Plain Power Loom, 1840 133 

Weaving. The Old Way 135 

Weaving. The New Way 135 

Loom of 1890 . 136 

Jacquard Machine 137 

Smith and Skinner Loom for Moquette Carpets • . 139 

Circular Loom 141 

The First Knitting Machine, Lee 143 

Knitting in the Old Way 145 

Knitting in the New Way 146 

Ancient Birmingham Meeting-house 148 

Salisbury Cathedral, England. Full page 148 

P. E. Cathedral of St. John the Divine (?) 150 

Father Damien, Missionary to Leper Colony 151 

Young Men's Christian Association, Philadelphia 153 

Baptist Mission School, Japan 155 

Methodist Episcopal Hospital 157 

The New Library of Congress, Washington, D. C. Full page 161 

Ridgway Branch of Philadelphia Library. Full page 163 

Public Library of the City of Boston. By permission of librarian. Full page . . . 164 

John Russell Young 166 

Carnegie Free Library, Pittsburgh. Full page 169 

Arc de PEtoile, Paris 173 

Natural History Museum, Kensington, London. Full page 175 

Glass Covered Arcade, Milan 177 

United States Capitol, Washington, D. C. Full page 179 

The White House, Washington, D. C. Full page 180 

Library Building, University of Virginia 181 

Trinity Church, New York. Full page 183 

St. George's Hall, Philadelphia 185 

Trinity Church, Boston 187 

American Surety Company's Building, New York 188 

Sir Humphrey Davy 192 

Michael Faraday 197 

William Crookes, F. R. S 200 

Sir Henry Bessemer .... 202 

Louis Jacques Daguerre • 203 

Louis Pasteur 205 

Beetnoven in His Study. Full page 208 

Giuseppe Verdi .... 208 

Grand Opera House, Paris 209 

Metropolitan Opera House, New York 210 

William Richard Wagner 211 

Edwin Forrest 211 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xv 

Charlotte Saunders Cushman 212 

Scenes from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Full page 213 

George Bancroft ................ 216 

John G. Whittier 217 

Alfred Tennyson 218 

Henry W. Longfellow 219 

Benjamin Franklin 223 

Horace Greeley 224 

John W. Forney " 225 

Joseph Medill " 226 

Record Building, Philadelphia. Full page 227 

The "Black Obelisk" of Shalmaneser II 232 

The Moabite Stone. Full page 232 

Ruins of Phihe, Egypt. Full page 235 

So-called Sarcophagus of Alexander the Great 239 

Cuneiform Letters from Lachish 241 

Arch of Titus, Rome 242 

Hittite Inscription from Jerabis. Full page 243 

A Typical Dairy Farm. Full page 247 

Modern Creamery and Cheese Factory 249 

A Typical Dairy Cow — Ayrshire 251 

Centrifugal Cream Separator in Operation. FulUpage 253 

Milk Tester (Open) 254 

Butter-making on Farm — The Old Way. Full page ........ 255 

Butter-making — The New Way 257 

The Dairy Maid. Full page 259 

Czar Alexander II., of Russia 265 

Sir Edward Bulwer 266 

Captain Alfred Dreyfus 269 

Mortality Chart 273 

Map Showing "Registration States" 275 

Laboratory of the University of Pennsylvania. Full page 277 

Sand Filter Bed ' 279 

A Quarantine Station 281 

Old Style Shrapnel . 284 

Congreve Rocket 285 

Miiiie" Ball . 286 

United States Rifle Musket, 1855 286 

General Winfield Scott. Full page 286 

Armstrong Field Gun 287 

Rodman Gun 288 

Old Smooth-bore Mortar 289 

Spencer Carbine 291 

Metallic Cartridge of 1864-65 292 

Prismatic Powder 298 

Mortar on Revolving Hoist. Full page 299 

Modern Shrapnel . 301 

Krag-Jorgensen Rifle 302 

Penetrating Power of Guns and Bullets. Full page 303 

Gatling Gun 304 

Nordenfeldt Rapid Fire Gun 305 

Soil Pulverizer. Furnished by author 309 

Columbia Harvester and Binder. Furnished by author 311 

Improved Thresher, with Blower and Self-feeder. Furnished by author .... 312 

Automatic Stacker with Folding Attachment. Furnished by author 313 

Disc Harrow. H. P. Denocher & Co., Hamilton, Ont 314 

Acme Harrow. Furnished by author 315 

Double Corn Cultivator. Long-Alstatten Co., Hamilton, Ont 317 

Modern Clover Huller. Gaar, Scoot & Co., Richmond, Ind 319 

Hereford Cow, "Lady Laurel." Furnished by author 320 

Group of Aberdeen-Angus Cattle. Courtesy of D. Bradford & Son, Aberdeen, O. . . . 321 

Jersey Cow, "Ida," of St. Lambert. Miller & Sibley, Franklin, Pa 322 

Poland-China Hog. Furnished by author 323 

Merino Sheep. John Pow & Son, Salem, 325 

Double Corn Planter. H. P. Denocher & Co., Hamilton, Ont 326 



xvi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

Hand Garden Plow. H. P. Denocher & Co., Hamilton, Ont. 327 

Success Anti-Clog Weeder. D. Y. Hallock & Co., York, Pa 331 

Aspinwall Potato Planter. Furnished by author 335 

Brooklyn Suspension Bridge. Full page 341 

The Niagara Railway Arch. Courtesy of Grand Trunk R. R. Full page .... 343 

The Firth of Forth Bridge, General View. Credit "Bridges," Chicago. Full page . . 344 

Pecos River Viaduct 345 

Formal Opening of Suez Canal 347 

Manchester Ship Canal 349 

Complete Rock Cut Chicago Drainage Canal. Courtesy of Lidgerwood Man. Co. Full page . 351 

An " Atlas " Powder Blast under Cableway. Copyright by Charles Stadler, Chicago. Full page 353 

American Portal of St. Clair Tunnel. Courtesy of Grand Trunk R. R 358 

Interior of St. Clair Tunnel. Courtesy of Grand Trunk R. R. 359 

Thoroughbred. Full page 363 

Watering the Cows 365 

A Temperance Society. (Herring) 367 

Art Critics. (Gebler) 368 

French Coach-Horse "Gladiator" 369 

Pacing Horse " Star Pointer." Time lm. 59 l-4s 371 

Automobile or Horseless Carriage. Courtesy of Electric Automobile Co 373 

Commodore Stephen Decatur 376 

Commodore Perry at Battle of Lake Erie 377 

Schoolship Saratoga. Courtesy of Philadelphia Bourse Book 379 

Robert E. Lee at Battle of Chapultepec. Full page 381 

Castle William. Military Prison, New York Harbor 383 

Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson 385 

General Ulysses S. Grant. Full page 387 

Sherman's March to the Sea. Full page . 389 

Lee's Surrender at Appomattox 391 

Morro Castle, Santiago Harbor 392 

Admiral George Dewey. Full page 393 

Main Deck of Cruiser Chicago 394 

Dewey's Guns at Manila. Full page 395 

General Joseph Wheeler 397 

The Truce before Santiago 398 

Aguinaldo, the Tagal Leader 399 

Napoleon, 1814. (Meissonier.) Full page 401 

Admiral Horatio Nelson 403 

Napoleon's Retreat from Waterloo. Full page 405 

Capture of the Malakoff. Full page 409 

Battle of Magenta. Full page 411 

Louis Adolphe Thiers 415 

Cavalry Charge at Gravelotte. Full page 416 

Battle of Yalu River. Full page 417 

Munich Exposition, 1854 423 

New Orleans Exposition, 1884. Full page 425 

Eiffel Tower, Paris Exposition, 1888 427 

Court of Honor, Chicago Exposition, 1893 429 

Women's Building, Chicago Exposition, 1893 .......... 431 

Agricultural Building, Atlanta Exposition, 1895 433 

Machinery Hall, Atlanta Exposition, 1895 434 

Women's Building, Nashville Exposition, 1897 435 

Art Building, Nashville Exposition, 1897 437 

Grand Court, Omaha Exposition, 1898. Photograph by H. C. Hersey 439 

National Export Exposition, Philadelphia, Sept. 14 to Nov. 30, 1899. Electro supplied by 

Commercial Museum. Full page 441 

Old United States Mint, Philadelphia 447 

New United States Mint, Philadelphia. Courtesy of Philadelphia Bourse Book. Full page 451 
Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, First Site of First United States Bank. Full page . . .453 

Girard Bank, Philadelphia, Second Site of First United States Bank 455 

Second United States Bank, Philadelphia, now Custom House 457 

Bank of England, London 463 

German Bank, Bremen 464 

The Bourse, Paris. Full page 464 

New York Clearing House 468 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xvii 

Cocoanut Tree, Palm Beach, Fla. Photograph by author. Full page 473 

Packing Apples for Export, St. Catherines, Out. Full page 477 

Lady de Coverly Grapes, Maryville, Cal. Photograph by author. Full page .... 483 

Orange Orchard, Sanford, Fla. Photogtaph by author 487 

Olive Orchard, San Jose", Cal. Photograph by author 488 

Pineapple Field, Palm Beach, Fla. Photograph by author 489 

A Clipper Ship. Permission of Whittaker & Co 493 

Robert Fulton 494 

The Clermont, Fulton's First Steamboat . . 495 

S. Cunard, Founder of First Ocean Packet Line. Courtesy of Cunard S. S. Co. . . . 497 

The Oceanic, 1899 — Largest Ship Afloat. Courtesy of White Star Line. Full page . . 499 

Steamer Campania, of Cunard Line. Courtesy of Cunard S. S. Co. Full page . . . 509 

Cramps' Shipyard on the Delaware. Full page 512 

Pestalozzi, of Yverdun 517 

Froebel, Founder of Kindergartens 519 

Dr. Thomas Arnold, Rugby, England 520 

An Old Log Schoolhouse 521 

Schoolhouse at Sleepy Hollow 524 

Interior of Sleepy Hollow Schoolhouse 525 

Child's Guide. Full page 527 

Dr. Charles \V. Eliot, President of Harvard University 531 

William T. Harris 533 

Ideal Schoolhouse and Grounds 534 

Suggestions for planting a Schoolground 535 

New High School, Philadelphia. Full page 537 

Dr. William H. Maxwell, Superintendent "Greater New York" Schools .... 538 

Booker T. Washington, Principal Tuskegee Institute 539 

Dr. E. Benj. Andrews, Superintendent of Schools, Chicago, III 541 

Early Hand Printing Press 543 

The Columbian Press 545 

Washington Hand Press 546 

Old Wooden Frame Adams Press 547 

Double Cylinder Press 549 

First Perfecting Press 551 

Four-roller Two-Revolution Press 553 

Lithographic Press 555 

Numbering Card Press 557 

Linotype (Type-setting) Machine — Front View 559 

Octuple Stereotype Perfecting Press and Folder. Full page 560 

Outline of Type-setting Machine 561 

Sinking, Drifting, and Stoping in Mining 573 

Air Compressor 574 

The " Sergeant " Rock Drill 575 

Steam-Driven Air Compressor 576 

Driving a Railway Tunnel. Full page 577 

Straight Line Air Compressor 578 

Duplex Air Compressor 579 

Electric Coal-Mining Machine. Full page 581 

Gold Dredging on Swan River, Colorado. Full page 583 

Power Plant at Jerome Park 585 

The Holy Women at the Tomb 589 

Whispers of Love. (Bouguereau.) Full page 591 

Christmas Chimes. (Blashfield.) Full page 592 

Greek Girls playing at Ball. (Leighton) 593 

Landseer and his Favorites. (By himself.) Full page 595 

The Horse Fair. (Rosa Bonheur.) Full page 597 

At the Shrine of Venus. (Alma Tadema) 601 

Napoleon I. (Canova) 603 

Statue of Benjamin Franklin. (Boyle) 605 

The Washington Monument, Fairmount Park 607 

Photographic View of New York City 611 

Surgical Operating Room, Howard Hospital, Philadelphia 617 

Clinical Amphitheatre, Pennsylvania Hospital. Full page 621 

Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia. From its " History." Full page .... 824 

X-Ray Photograph of a Compound Fracture of Forearm ........ 628 



xviii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

X-Ray Picture of a Dislocated Elbow. Full page 629 

Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes 637 

Dr. Nathan Smith Davis, of Chicago. Courtesy of Dr. Davis 639 

Starling Medical College and St. Francis Hospital, Columbus, Ohio. Courtesy of Spahr & 

Glenn. Full page 640 

J. Marion Sims, A. B., M. D., New York. Courtesy of Wm. Wood & Co 641 

The Old Stage Coach * 644 

First Train of Steam Cars 645 

A Railway Train in Belgium 647 

Loop in the Selkirks, showing Four Tracks. Full page 649 

Entrance to St. Gothard Tunnel, Switzerland 651 

Railway Signals 652 

An American Express Locomotive 653 

An American Freight Locomotive 655 

Exterior of Latest Sleeping Car 656 

Interior of Pullman Sleeping Car 657 

Railway Suspension Bridge, Niagara Falls. From American Society of Civil Engineers. Full page 659 

Hagerman Pass on Colorado Midland R.R 661 

View near Verrugas, on line of Oroya Railway, Peru ...*.... 663 

Independence Hall and Square — Winter Scene 666 

Hon. Melville Fuller, Chief Justice U. S. Supreme Court 669 

State, War, and Navy Building, Washington, D. C. . 673 

Portia and Bassanio. Trial Scene from " Merchant of Venice." Full page . . . . 675 

Paying their Dues. Full page 679 

First Building and Loan Association Advertisement 681 

Row of $1400 Houses , 686 

Plan of $1400 Houses 687 

Building Association Banquet. Full page 689 

Abraham Lincoln '.. 691 

Jefferson Davis 692 

William E. Gladstone 693 

Thomas Jefferson 695 

Otto E. L. Von Bismarck . 697 

William McKinley 698 

Grant's Tomb, Riverside Drive, New York City 699 

Duke of Wellington 700 

Count Von Moltke . 701 

General Giuseppe Garibaldi 703 

Charles H. Spurgeon 705 

William Wilberforce 706 

Thomas B. Macaulay 707 

Florence Nightingale 712 

Clara Barton 713 

Sir Walter Scott 715 

Charles Dickens . . 716 

Lord Byron 717 




WONDERS OF ELECTRICITY 

By JAMES P. BOYD, A.M., L.B. 

I. AT THE DAWN OF THE CENTURY. 

When, in his " Midsummer Night's Dream," Shakespeare placed in the 
mouth of Puck, prince of fairies, the playful speech, — 

"I'll put a girdle round about the earth 
In forty minutes," 

he had no thought that the undertaking of a boastful and prankish sprite 
could ever be outdone by human agency. Could the immortal bard have lived 
to witness the time when the girdling of the earth by means of the electric 
current became easier and swifter than elfin promise or possibility, he must 
have speedily remodeled his splendid comedy and denied to the world its 
delightful, fairy-like features. 

An old and charming story runs, that Aladdin, son of a widow of Bagdad, 
became owner of a magic lamp, by means of whose remarkable powers he 
could bring to his instant aid the services of an all-helpful genie. When 
Aladdin wished for aid of any kind, he had but to rub the lamp. At once 
the genie appeared to gratify his desires. By means of the lamp Aladdin 
could hear the faintest whisper thousands of miles away. He could annihi- 
late both time and space, and in a twinkling could transfer himself to the 
tops of the highest mountains. How the charm of this ancient story is lost 
in the presence of that marvelous realism which marks the achievements of 
modern electrical science ! 

The earliest known observations on that subtle mystery which pervades all 
nature, that silent energy whose phenomena and possibilities are limitless, 
and before which even the wisest must stand in awe, are attributed to 
Thales, a scholar of Miletus, in Greece, some 600 years b. c. On rubbing a 
piece of amber against his clothing, he observed that it gained the strange 
property of at first attracting and then repelling light objects brought near 
to it. His observations led to nothing practical, and no historic mention of 



20 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



electrical phenomena is found till the time of Theophrastus (b. c. 341), who 
wrote that amber, when rubbed, attracted " straws, small sticks, and even 
thin pieces of copper and iron." Both Aristotle and Pliny speak of the elec- 
tric eel as having power to benumb animals with which it comes in contact. 

Thus far these simple phenomena only had been mentioned. There was no 
study of electric force, no recognition of it as such, or as we know it and turn 

it to practical account to-day. 
This seems quite strange when 
we consider the culture and 
power to investigate of the Egyp- 
tians, Phoenicians, Greeks, and 
Romans. True, a few fairy-like 
stories of how certain persons 
emitted sparks from their bod- 
ies, or were cured of diseases by 
shocks from electric eels, are 
found scattered through their lit- 
eratures, but they failed to fol- 
low the way to electrical science 
pointed out to them by Thales. 
Even in the Middle Ages, when 
a few scientists and writers saw 
fit to speak of electrical phenom- 
ena as observed by the ancients, 
and even ventured to speculate 
upon them in their crude way, 
there were no practical additions 
made to the science, and the 
ground laid as fallow as it had 
done since the creation. 

After a lapse of more than two 
thousand years from the experi- 
ment of Thales, Dr. Gilbert, phy- 
sician to Queen Elizabeth (a. d. 
1533-1603), took up the study of 
amber and various other sub- 
stances which, when subjected to 
friction, acquired the property of 
first attracting and then repelling 
light bodies brought near them. 
He published his observations in 
a little book called "De Mag- 
nete," in the year a. d. 1600, and thus became the first author of a work 
upon electricity. In this unique^ and initial work upon simple electrical ef- 
fects, the author added greatly to the number of substances that could be 
electrified by friction, and succeeded in establishing the different degrees of 
force with which they could be made to attract or repel light bodies brought 
near them. 

Fortunately for electrical science, and for that matter all sciences, about 




OLD FRANKLIN ELECTRICAL MACHINE. 
(By permission of Franklin Institute.) 



WONDERS OF ELECTRICITY 21 

this time the influence of Lord Bacon's Inductive Philosophy began to be felt 
by investigators and scientific men. Before that, the causes of natural 
phenomena had not been backed up by repeated experiments amounting to 
practical proofs, but had been accounted for, if at all, by sheer guesses or 
whimsical reasons. Bacon's method introduced hard, cold, constant experi- 
ment as the only sure means of finding out exactly the causes of natural 
phenomena ; and not only this, but the necessity of series upon series of 
experiments, each based upon the results of the former, and so continuing, 
link by link, till, from a comparison of the whole, some general principle or 
truth could be drawn that applied to all. This inductive method of scientific 
research gave great impetus to the study of every branch of science, and 
especially to the unfolding of infallible and practical laws governing the 
phenomena of nature. 

For very many years electrical experiments followed the lines laid down by 
Dr. Gilbert ; that is, the finding of substances that could be excited or elec- 
trified by friction. By and by such substances came to be called electrics, 
and it became a part of the crude electrical science of the time to compute 
the force with which these electrics, when excited, attracted or repelled other 
substances near them. Among the ablest of these investigators were Bobert 
Boyle, author of " Experiments on the Origin of Electricity," Sir Isaac New- 
ton, Otto von Guericke, and Francis Hawksbee, the last of whom communi- 
cated his experiments to the English Boyal Society in 1705. Otto von Gue- 
ricke used a hard roll of sulphur as an electric. He caused it to revolve rap- 
idly while he rubbed or excited it with his hand. Newton and Hawksbee 
used a revolving glass globe in the same way, and thus became the parents of 
the modern and better equipped electrical machine used for school purposes. 

The next step in electrical discovery, and one which marks an epoch in the 
history of the science, was made by Stephen Gray, of England, in 1729. To 
him is due the credit of finding out that electricity from an excited glass 
cylinder could be conducted away from it to objects at a remote distance. 
Though he used only a packthread as a conductor, he thus carried electricity to 
a distance of several hundred feet, and his novel discovery opened up what, 
for the time, was a brilliant series of experiments in England and through- 
out France and Germany. Out of these experiments came the knowledge 
that some substances were natural conductors of electricity, while others were 
non-conductors ; and that the non-conductors were the very substances — 
glass, resin, sulphur, etc. — which were then in popular use as electrics. 
Here was laid the foundation of those after-discoveries which led to the 
selection of copper, iron, and other metals as the natural and therefore best 
conductors of electricity, and glass, etc., as the best insulators or non- 
conductors. 

Up to this time an excited electric, such as a glass cylinder or wheel, had 
furnished the only source whence electricity had been drawn for purposes of 
experiment. But now another great step forward was taken by the momentous 
discovery that electricity, as furnished by the excited but quickly exhausted 
electric, could be bottled up, as it were, and so accumulated and preserved in 
large quantities, to be drawn upon when needed for experiment. It is not 
known who made this important discovery ; but by common consent the 
storage apparatus, which was to play so conspicuous a part in after-investiga- 




22 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

tions, was named the Leyden Jar or Phial, from the city of Ley den in Holland. 
It consisted of a simple glass jar lined inside and out with tinfoil to within 
an inch or two of the top, the tinfoil of the inside being connected by a con- 
ductor passing up through the stopper of the jar to a metallic knob on top. 
This jar could be charged or filled with electricity from a common 
electric, and it had the power of retaining the charge till the knob 
on top was touched by the knuckle, or some unelectrified substance, 
when a spark ensued, and the jar was said to be discharged. By 
conductors attached to the knob, guns were fired off at a distance 
by means of the spark, and it is said that Dr. Benjamin Franklin 
ignited a glass of brandy at the house of a friend by means of a 
wire attached to a Leyden jar and stretched the full width of the 
Schuylkill Biver at Philadelphia. 

At this stage in the history of eighteenth century electricity there 
enters a character whose experiments in electricity, and whose writ- 
ings upon the subject, not only brought him great renown at home 
and abroad, but perhaps did more to systematize the science and turn it to 
practical account than those of any contemporary. This was the celebrated 
Dr. Benjamin Franklin, of Philadelphia, Pa. He showed to the world that 
electricity was not created by friction upon an electric, but that it was merely 
gathered there, when friction was applied, from surrounding nature ; and in 
proof of his theory lie invaded the clouds with a kite during a thunder-storm, 
and brought down electricity therefrom by means of the kite-string as a con- 
ductor. The key he hung on the string became charged with the electric 
fluid, and on being touched by an unelectrified body, emitted sparks and 
produced all the effects commonly witnessed in the discharge of the Leyden 
jar. 

Franklin further established the difference between positive and negative 
electricity, and showed that the spark phenomenon on the discharge of the 
Leyden jar was due to the fact that the inside tinfoil was positively elec- 
trified and the outside tinfoil negatively. When the inside tinfoil was 
suddenly drawn upon by a conductor, the spark was simply the result of an 
effort upon the part of the two kinds of electricity to maintain an equilib- 
rium. By similar reasoning he accounted for the phenomenon of lightning in 
the clouds, and by easy steps invented the lightning-rod, as a means of break- 
ing the force of the descending bolt, and carrying the dangerous fluid safely 
to the ground. Here we have not only a practical result growing out of elec- 
trical experiments, but we witness the dawn of an era when electricity was 
to be turned to profitable commercial account. The lightning-rod man has 
been abroad in the world ever since the days of Franklin. 

Thus far, then, electrical science, if science it could yet be called, had gotten 
on at the dawn of the nineteenth century. No electricity was really known 
but that produced by friction upon glass, or some other convenient electric. 
Hence it was called frictional electricity by some, and static electricity by 
others, because it was regarded as electricity in a state of rest. Though a 
thing fitted for curious experiment, and a constant invitation to scientific 
research, it had no use whatever in the arts. An excited electric could fur- 
nish but a trivial and temporary supply of electricity. It exhausted itself in 
the exhibition of a single spark. 



WONDERS OF ELECTRICITY 



23 



ii. 



THE NEW NINETEENTH CENTURY ELECTRICITY. 



By a happy accident in 1790, Galvani, of Bologna, Italy, while experiment- 
ing upon a frog, discovered that he could produce alternate motion between 
its nerves and muscles through the agency of a fluid generated by certain 
dissimilar metals when brought close together. Though this mysterious 
fluid came to be known as the galvanic fluid, and though galvanism was made 
to perpetuate his name, it was not until 1800 that Volta, another Italian, 
showed to the scientific world that really a new electricity had been found. 

Volta constructed what became known as the galvanic pile, but more 




F KAN KLIN INSTITUTE, PHILADELPHIA. 

(From photo furnished by Institute.) 

largely since as the voltaic pile, which he found would generate electricity 
strongly and continuously. He used in its construction the dissimilar metals 
silver and zinc, cut into disks, and piled alternately one upon the other, but 
separated by pieces of cloth moistened with salt water. This .simple gener- 
ator of electricity was the forerunner of the more powerful batteries of the 
present day, and which are still popularly known as voltaic cells or batteries. 
But the importance of Volta's discovery did not lay more in the construc- 
tion of his electrical generator than in the great scientific fact that chemistry 
now became linked indissolubly with electricity and electrical effects. The 
two novel and charming sciences, hitherto separate, were henceforth to co- 
operate in those majestic revelations and magnificent possibilities which so 
signally distinguish the nineteenth century. By means of greatly improved 



24 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX 1 " CENTURY 

voltaic cells or batteries, that is, by jars containing acid in which were sus- 
pended dissimilar metals, electricity could be produced readily and in some- 
what continuous current. By increasing the number of these cells or jars or 
batteries, and connecting them with conductors, the current could be made 
stronger and more effective. In contradistinction to the old friction al or 
static electricity, the new became known as chemical or current electricity. 

As was to have been expected, Volta's invention and discovery excited the 
whole domain of electrical science to new investigation, and brought in their 
train a host of wonderful results, growing more and more practical each year, 
and pointing the way more and more clearly to the commercial value of elec- 
tricity as a familiar, inexhaustible, and irresistible power. Thus, in 1801, 
Nicholson showed that an electric current from a voltaic pile would, when 
passed through salt water, decompose the water and resolve it into its two 
original gases, oxygen and hydrogen. In 1807, Sir Humphrey Davy, carry- 
ing electricity further into the domain of chemistry, showed, by means of the 
electric current, that various metallic substances embraced in the earth's 
crust, and before his time supposed to be elementary, were really dissoluble 
and easily resolved into their component parts, whether solids, or gases, or 
both. Two years later, in 1809, he made the equally momentous discovery 
of something which was to prove a veritable sit lux, " Let there be light," for 
the nineteenth century, and illuminate it beyond all others. Though it had 
been known almost from the date of the first voltaic pile that, when the ends 
of its two conducting wires were brought close together, a spark was seen to 
leap in a curved or arc line from one wire to the other, which phenomenon 
was known as the voltaic arc, it remained for Davy to exhibit this arc in all 
the beauty of a brilliant light by using two charcoal (carbon) sticks or elec- 
trodes, instead of the wires, at the point of close approach. Here was the 
first principle of the after-evolved arc light to be found by the end of the 
century in every large city, and to prove such a source of comfort and safety 
for their millions of inhabitants. This principle was simply that a stream 
of electricity pouring along a conducting wire will, when interrupted by a 
substance such as carbon (charcoal), which is a slow conductor, throw off a 
bright light at the point of interruption. The phenomenon has been very 
aptly likened to a running stream of water in whose bed a stone has been 
placed. The stone obstructs the flow of water. The water remonstrates by 
an angry ripple and excited roar. In Davy's experiment with the pieces of 
charcoal, both became intensely hot while the electricity was making its bril- 
liant arc leap from one to the other, and would, of course, soon be consumed. 
He, therefore, in showing the principle of a permanent luminant, failed to 
demonstrate its practical possibilities. These last were not to be attained 
till the nineteenth century was well along, and only after very numerous and 
very baffling attempts. 

Between 1810 and 1830, many important laws governing electrical phe- 
nomena were discovered, which tended greatly to render the science more 
exact, and to give it commercial direction. Oersted, of Denmark, discovered 
a means of measuring the strength and direction of an electric current. 
Ampere, of France, discovered the identity of electricity and what had before 
been called galvanism. Ritchie, of England, made the first machine by 
which a continuous motion was produced by means of the attractions and 



WONDERS OF ELECTRICITY 



25 



repulsions between fixed magnets and electro-magnets. This machine was 
an early suggestion of the dynamo and motor of the coming years of the cen- 
tury. It meant that electricity was a source of power, as well as of other 
phenomenal things. 

In speaking of the electro-magnet in connection with Ritchie's machine, 
it is proper to say that the electro-magnet was probably discovered between 
1825 and 1830, but precisely by whom is not known. It differs from the 
natural magnet, or the permanent steel horseshoe magnet, and consists sim- 
ply of a round piece of soft iron, called a core, around which are wrapped 
several coils of fine wire. When an electric current is made to pass through 
this wrapping of wire, called the helix, the iron core becomes magnetized, 
and has all the power of a permanent magnet. But as soon as the electric 
current ceases, the magnetic power of the core is lost. Hence it is called an 
electro-magnet, or a temporary magnet, to distinguish it from a permanent 
magnet. 

While the discovery of the electro-magnet was very important in the 
respect that it afforded great magnetic power by the use of a limited or eco- 
nomic galvanic force, or, in other words, by the use of smaller and fewer 
Voltaic batteries, it was not until Faraday began his splendid series of elec- 
trical discoveries, in 1831, that a new and exhaustless wellspring of electri- 
city was found to lay at the door of science. Faraday's prime discovery was 
\ that of the induction of electric currents, or, in other 

words, of manufacturing electricity directly from mag- 
netism. He began his experiments with what became 
known as an induction coil, which, though then crude 
in his hands, is the same in principle to-day. It con- 




INDUCTION COIL. 



26 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



sists of an iron core wrapped with two coils of insulated wire. One coil is of 
very lengthy, thin wire, and is called the secondary coil. The other is of 
short, thick wire, and is called the primary. When a magnetic current is 
passed through the primary coil, with frequent makes and breaks, it induces 
an alternating current of very high tension in the secondary coil, thus power- 
fully increasing its effects. In Faraday's further study of electric induction, 

he showed that when a conductor 
carrying a current was brought near 
to a second conductor it induced or 
set up a current in this second. So 
magnets were found to have a sim- 
ilar effect upon one another. 

The secret of these phenomena 
was found to lie in the fact that a 
magnet, or a conductor carrying a 
current, was the centre of a field of 
force of very considerable extent. 
Such a field of force can be famil- 
iarly shown by placing a piece of 
glass or white paper sprinkled with 
fine iron filings upon the poles 
of a magnet. The filings will 
be drawn into concentric circles, 
whose extent measures the mag- 
net's field of force. So also the 
extent of the field of force sur- 
rounding a conductor carrying a 
current may be familiarly shown. 
In these instances the filings 
brought within the fields of force 
are magnetized. So would any 
other conducting substance be, and 
would become capable of carrying 
away as an independent current 
that which had been induced in 
it. Here we have the essential principle of the modern dynamo-electric 
machine, commonly called simply dynamo. Faraday actually constructed a 
dynamo, which answered very well for his experiments, but failed in com- 
mercial results because the only source of energy he could draw upon in his 
time was that supplied by the rather costly voltaic cells. 

During Faraday's time and subsequently, electricians in Europe and the 
United States were active in formulating further laws relative to the nature, 
strength, and control of electrical currents, and each year was one of prepara- 
tion for the coming leap of electrical science into the vast realm of commer- 
cial convenience and profit. 

III. THE TELEGRAPH. 

From the date of the discovery that electricity could be conducted to a 
distance, dreams were indulged that it could be made a means of communi- 




MAGNETIC FIELDS OF FORCE. 



WONDERS OF ELECTRICITY 



27 




DAXIELLS CELLS. 



eating intelligence. In the eighteenth century, many attempts we're made to 
carry intelligent signals over electric wires. Some of these were quite ingen- 
ious, but in the end failures, because the old-fashioned f rictional electricity 
was the only kind then known and em- 
ployed. Even after the discovery of the 
voltaic cell or battery, which afforded an 
ample supply of chemical electricity to 
operate a telegraphic apparatus, the time 
was not ripe for successful telegraphy, for 
up till 1836 no battery had been produced 
that was sufficiently constant in its opera- 
tion to supply the kind of current re- 
quired. For feasible telegraphy, two im- 
portant steps were yet necessary. One 
was the discovery of the electro-magnet, 

1825-30. The other was the discovery of the Daniell's battery or cell, in 
1836, by means of which a constant electric current could be sustained for a 
long time. 

But even before these two indispensable requisites had been supplied by 
human genius, much had been done to develop the mechanical methods of 
conveying intelligence. In 1816, Ronalds, of England, constructed a tele- 
graph by means of which he operated a system of pith-ball signals which 
could be understood. In 1820, Ampere suggested that the deflection of the 
magnetic needle by an electric current might be turned to account in impart- 
ing intelligence at a distance. In 1828, Dyar, of New York, perfected a tele- 
graph by means of which he made tracings and spaces upon a piece of mov- 
ing litmus paper, which tracings and spaces could be intelligently interpreted 
through a prearranged code. A little later, 1830, Baron Schilling constructed 
a telegraph which imparted motion to a set of needles at either end. 

From this time up to 1837, which last year was a memorable one in the 
history of telegraphy, the genius of such distinguished men as Morse in Amer- 
ica, Wheatstone and Cooke in England, and Steinhill in Munich, was brought 
to bear on the further evolution of the telegraph. While all these names have 

been associated with the invention of 
the first practical telegraph, it is impos- 
sible, with justice, to rob that of Morse 
of the distinguished honor. Morse con- 
ceived his invention on board the ship 
Surry, while on a voyage from Havre to 
New York, in October. 1832. It con- 
sisted, as conceived, of a single circuit 
of conductors fed by some generator of 
electricity. He devised a system of 
signs, which was afterwards improved into the Morse alphabet, consisting 
of dots or points, and spaces, to represent numerals. These were impressed 
upon a strip of ribbon or paper by a lever which held at one end a pen or 
pencil. The paper or ribbon was made to move along under the pencil or 
pen at a regular rate by means of clockwork. In accordance with these con- 
ceptions, Morse completed his instrument and publicly exhibited it in 1835, 




MORSE TELEGRAPH AND BATTERY. 



28 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 




SAMUEL FINLEY BREESE MORSE. 



He gave it further publicity, in much improved form, in 1837. In this form, 
it was entirely original in the important respects that the ribbon or paper was 

made to move by clockwork, while a 
pen or pencil gave the impressions, thus 
preserving a permanent record of the 
message convoyed. 

Though under systems less original 
and effective than that of Morse, a first 
actual telegraph had been operated 
between Paddington and Drayton, Eng- 
land, a distance of 13 miles, in 1839, 
and one at Calcutta, India, for a dis- 
tance of 21 miles, it was not until 1844 
that the world's era of practical tele- 
graphy actually set in under the Morse 
system, which speedily superseded all 
others. In that year, amid the jeers of 
congressmen and the adverse predictions 
of the press, Morse erected the first 
American telegraph line in America, 
between Baltimore and Washington, a 
distance of 40 miles, and, to the con- 
fusion of all detractors, sent the first message over it on May 27 of that year. 
From that date the fame of Morse was established at home, and soon became 
world-wide. His system of telegraphy, with slight modifications, became that 
of all civilized countries. 

As was to be expected in a century so 
full of enterprise as the nineteenth, a 
science so attractive, so useful to civili- 
zation, so commercially valuable, so full 
of possibilities, as telegraphy, could not 
remain at rest. Everywhere it stim- 
ulated to improvement and new inven- 
tion and discovery ; and as the century 
progressed, it witnessed in steady succes- 
sion the wonders of what became known 
as duplex telegraphy, that is, the send- 
ing of different messages over the same 
wire at the same time. Again, the 
century witnessed the invention of 
quadruplex telegraphy, that is, the send- 
ing of four separate messages over the 
same wire, two in one direction and 
two in another. This was followed by 
the invention of Gray's harmonic sys- 
tem, by means of which a number of messages greater than four are trans- 
mitted at the same time over the same wire; and this again by Delaney's 
synchronous multiplex system, by means of which as many as 72 separate 
messages have been sent over the same wire at the same time, either all in 
one direction, or some in one direction and the rest in an opposite. 




CYRUS W. FIELD. 



WONDERS OF ELECTRICITY 



29 



For a time successful telegraphy was limited, to overland spaces, the conduct- 
ors or wires, consisting of iron or copper, being insulated where they passed 
the supporting poles. In the cities, supporting poles proved to be unsightly 
and dangerous, and they were succeeded by underground conduits carrying 
insulated wires. In 1839, we read of what may be reckoned the first success- 
ful experiment in telegraphing under water by means of an insulated wire, or 
cable, as a conductor. The experiment was tried at Calcutta, and under the 
river Hugli. In 1842, Morse experimented at New York with an under-water 
cable, and showed that a successful submarine telegraphy was practical. In 
1848, a cable, insulated with gutta-percha, was laid under water between New 
York and Jersey City, and successfully operated. In 1851j a submarine cable 
was laid and successfully operated under the English Channel. An enterpris- 
ing American, Cyrus W. Field, of New York, now took up the subject of sub- 
marine telegraphy, and suggested a cable under the ocean between Ireland 
and Newfoundland. One was laid in 1857, but it unfortunately parted at a 
distance of three hundred miles from land. 
A second was laid under Mr. Field's aus- 
pices in 1858, but the insulation proved 
faulty, and after working imperfectly for a 
month, it gave out entirely. 

These disasters, though furnishing much 
valuable experience, checked the enterprise 
of submarine telegraphy for a number of 
years. Not until 1861, when a deep-sea 
cable was successfully laid and operated be- 
tween Malta and Alexandria, and in 1864, 
when one was laid across the Persian Gulf, 
did enterprise gain sufficient courage to dare 
another attempt to cable the Atlantic. In 
1865, that attempt was made. Again the 
cable broke, but this did not dissuade from 
another and successful attempt in 1866. 
This signal triumph was the forerunner of 
others, equally important to international 
commerce and the world's diplomacy. Coun- 
tries far apart, and isolated by oceans, have, 
by means of deep-sea cables, been brought 
into intimate relation, and made sharers of 
one another's intelligence, enterprise, and 
civilizing instincts. What the overland 
telegraph has done toward bringing local 
states and communities into contact, the 
submarine cable has done for the remote 
nations. 

In form, an ocean cable differs much 
from the simple wire which constitutes 

the conductor of an overland or even underground telegraph. It is made 
in many ways, but mostly with a central core of numerous copper wires, 
which are more flexible than a single wire. These are thickly covered with 




OCEAN CABLE. 



30 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX'" CENTURY 

an insulating material, such as gutta-percha, after first being heavily wrapped 
in tarred canvas or like material. The central cores may be one, two, three, 
or even more in number. Where a cable is likely to be subjected to the 
abrasion of ship-bottoms, rocks, or anchors, it has an outer covering or 
guard composed of closely united steel wires. In submarine telegraphy, the 
instruments used in sending and receiving the message are very much more 
ingenious, delicate, and costly than in overland telegraphy. 

Whereas at the beginning of the nineteenth century electric telegraphy 
was an unknown science, and even up to the middle of the century was 
of limited use and doubtful commercial value, nevertheless the end of the 
century witnesses in its growth and application one of its most stupendous 
marvels. From the few miles of overland wires in 1844, the total mileage of 
the century has expanded to approximately 5,000,000, and the submarine to 
170,000. A single company (the Western Union) in the United States oper- 
ates 800,000 miles of wire, conveying 60,000,000 messages per year, while 
throughout the world more than 200,000,000 messages per year serve the 
purposes of enlightened intercourse. The capital employed reaches many 
hundreds of millions of dollars. 

The close of the nineteenth century opened possibilities in telegraphy that 
may be classed as startling in comparison with its previous attainments. It 
would seem that the intervention of the familiar conducting wire is not abso- 
lutely necessary to the transmission of intelligence. The old and Avell-estab- 
lished principle of induced currents has lately been turned to account in 
what is termed "telegraphy without wires." As an instance, a telegraph 
wire, when placed close alongside of a railroad track, will take up and con- 
vey to and from the stations the induced pulsations of a magneto-telephone 
placed within a passing car, and connected to the metallic roof of the car. 
This system has been put to practical use on at least one railway, and pro- 
nounced feasible. 

But a greater marvel than this springs from the discovery of Hertz, about 
1890, that every electrical discharge is the centre of oscillations radiating 
indefinitely through space. The phenomenon is likened to the dropping of a 
stone in a placid lake. Concentric undulations of the water are set up, — 
little waves, — which gradually enlarge in diameter, and affect in greater or 
less degree the entire surface. Could an apparatus be invented to detect and 
direct the oscillations made in space by an electric generator, — to perceive, 
as it were, the ether undulations, just as the eye notes those on the lake's 
surface ? 

In 1891, Professor Branley found that the electric vibrations in ether could 
be detected by means of fine metallic filings. No matter how good a con- 
ductor of electricity the metal in mass might be, when reduced to fine filings 
or powder it offered powerful resistance to a passing current; in other 
words, became a very poor conductor. An electric discharge or spark near 
the filings greatly decreased their resistance. If the filings were jarred, their 
original resistance was restored. Branley placed his filings in a tube, into 
either end of which wires were passed. These were connected with a gal- 
vanometer. Ordinarily, the resistance of the filings was such as to prevent a 
current passing through them, and the galvanometer remained unaffected. 
But when an electric spark was emitted near the tube, the resistance was so 



WONDERS OF ELECTRICITY 



31 



much decreased that the current passed readily through the filings, and was 
detected by the galvanometer. This is simply equivalent to saying that the 
discharge of the electric spark made the tilings to cohere and become a better 
conductor than when lying loosely in the tube. Here, then, was opportunity 
for an instrument which had but to regulate the number of sparks and indi- 
cate the presence of the electric waves in order to produce dots and dashes 
similar to those used in the common telegraph. Such an instrument was 
brought nearest to perfection by Signor Marconi, a young Italian, in 1896. 
With it he succeeded in sending electric waves through ether or space, and 
without the use of wires, a distance of four miles, upon Salisbury Plain, Eng- 
land. Later, he transmitted messages by means of space (wireless) tele- 




TflE GREAT EASTERN LAYING AN OCEAN CABLE. 



graphy across Bristol Channel, a distance of 8.7 miles, and subsequently 
across the English Channel, a distance, of 18 miles. Mr. W. J. Clarke, of 
America, has improved upon Marconi's methods of space telegraphy, and 
shown some remarkable results. Whether space telegraphy will eventually 
supersede that by wires is one of the problems that time only can solve. 
But such are the possibilities of electrical science that we may well be pre- 
pared for more wonderful revelations than any yet made. 

IV. HELLO ! HELLO ! 

Telegraph (Gr. tele, far, and graphein, to write) implies the production of 
writing at a distance by means of an electric current upon a conductor. 
Telephone (Gr. tele, far, and phone, sound) implies the production of sound at 
a distance by the same means, though the word telephone was in early use 
to describe the transmission of sound by means of a rod or tightly stretched 
string connecting two diaphragms of wood, membrane, or other substance. 
This last plan of transmitting sound came to be known as the string telephone,, 
and it retained this name until the invention of the electric telephone. 



32 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX 71 ' CENTURY 



Like the electric telegraph, the electric telephone was an evolution. The 
string telephone, in the hands of Wheatstone, showed, as early as 1819, that 
the vibrations of the air produced by a musical instrument were very minute, 
and could be transmitted hundreds of yards by means of a string armed with 
delicate diaphragms. But while the string telephone served to confirm the 
fact that sounds are vibrations of the atmosphere which affect the tympanum 
of the ear, it remained but a toy or experimental device till after electric 
telegraphy became an accepted science, that is, in the year 1837 and subse- 





A STRING TELEPHONE. 

quently. One of the earliest steps to- 
/^Z^SkIL ward the evolution of the electric tele- 
X^H^Ji %i\ phone was taken by Mr. Page, of Salem, 
\^ipjj W^PM Mass., in 1837, who discovered that a 
magnetic bar could emit sounds when 
rapidly magnetized and demagnetized; 
and that those sounds corresponded with 
the number of currents which produced 
them. This led to the discovery, be- 
tween 1847 and 1852, of several kinds of 
electric vibrators adapted to the produc- 
tion of musical sounds and their trans- 
mission to a distance. All this was 
wonderful and momentous, but a little while had still to elapse before one 
arose bold enough to admit the possibility of transmitting human speech by 
electricity. He came in 1854, in the person of Charles Bourseul, of Paris, 
who, though as if writing out a fanciful dream, said, " We know that sounds 
are produced by vibrations, and are adapted to the ear by the same vibra- 
tions which are reproduced by the intervening medium. But the intensity of 
the vibrations diminishes very rapidly with the distance, so that it is, even 
with the aid of speaking-tubes and trumpets, impossible to exceed somewhat 
narrow limits. Suppose that a man speaks near a movable disk, sufficiently 
flexible to lose none of the vibrations of the voice, that this disk alternately 
makes and breaks the current from a battery, you may have at a distance 
another disk, which will at the same time execute the same vibrations." 

Bourseul further showed that the sounds of the voice thus reproduced 
would have the same pitch, but admitted that, in the then present state of 
acoustic science, it could not be affirmed that the syllables uttered by the 
human voice could be so reproduced, since nothing was known of them, 
except that some were uttered by the teeth, others by the lips, and so on. 
The status of the telephone then, according to Bourseul, was that voice could 
be reproduced at a distance at the pitch of the speaker, but that something 
more was needed to transmit the delicate and varied intonations of human 
speech when it was broken into syllables and utterances. To transmit sim- 




THOMAS ALVA EDISON. 



WONDERS OF ELECTRICITY 33 

ply voice was one thing ; to transmit the timbre or quality of speech was 
another. 

Bourseul made plain the problem that was still before the investigator. 
And now comes one of the most remarkable episodes in the history of elec- 
tricity, — a chapter of mingled shame and glory. In the village of Eberly's 
Mills, Cumberland County, Pa., lived a genius by the name of Daniel Draw- 
baugh, who had made a study of telephony up to the very point Bourseul 
had left it. He had transmitted musical sound, sound of the voice, and other 
sounds in the same pitch. He had said that this was all that could be done 
till some means was discovered of holding up the constant onward flow of 
the electric current along a conducting wire by introducing into such flow a 
variable resistance such as would impart to simple pitch of voice the quality 
or timbre of human speech. Drawbaugh achieved this in his simple work- 
shop as early as 1859-60, according to evidence furnished to the United 
States Supreme Court at the celebrated trial of the cases which robbed him 
of the right to his prior invention. He did it by introducing into the circuit 
a small quantity of powdered charcoal confined in a tumbler, through which 
the current was passing. The charcoal, being a poor conductor and in small 
grains, offered just that kind of variable resistance to the current necessary 
to reproduce the tones and syllables of speech. He transmitted speech 
between his shop and house, and proved the success he had met with before 
audiences in New York and Philadelphia. But he neglected to care for the 
commercial side of his discovery, though many of his patents antedated 
those which contributed to deprive him of deserved honor and profit. 

In 1861, Reis, of Germany, came into notice as the inventor of a telephone 
which transmitted sound very clearly, but failed to reproduce syllabified 
speech. However, the principle and shape of his transmitter and receiver 
were accepted by those who followed him. Two men now came upon the 
scene who had reached the conclusion already arrived at by Drawbaugh, and 
who became rivals over his head for the honor and profit of an invention by 
means of which the quality of the voice in speaking could be transmitted. 
These two were Elisha Gray, of Chicago, and Alexander Graham Bell, of 
Boston. Their respective devices seem to have been akin, and to have been 
presented to the patent office almost simultaneously ; so nearly so, at least, 
as to make them a part of that long, costly, and acrimonious legal contention 
over priority of invention which did not end till 1887. 

Both Bell and Gray reached the conclusion that the transmission of articu- 
late speech was impossible unless they could produce electrical undulations 
corresponding exactly with the vibrations of the air or sound waves. They 
brought this similarity about by introducing a variable resistance into the 
electric current by means of an interposing liquid, just as Drawbaugh had 
done years before with his tumbler of powdered charcoal. Bell exhibited 
his instrument with comparative success at the Centennial Exhibition in 1876 
in Philadelphia; but much had yet to be done to perfect a telephone of real 
commercial value. 

The years 1877-78 were years of great activity among electricians, whose 

prime object was to perfect a telephone transmitter and receiver, b} r means of 

whose mutual operations at opposite ends of a circuit all the modulations of 

speech could be preserved and passed. To this end Berliner introduced into 

3 



34 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

a transmitter or sender the then well-known principle of the microphone 
(Gr. mikros, small, phone, sound), which magnified the faint sounds by the 
variation in electrical resistance, caused by variation of pressure at loose 
contact between two metal points or electrodes. Edison quickly followed 
with a similar transmitter or sender, in which one of the electrodes was of 
soft carbon, the other of metal. Then came (1878) Hughes and Blake with 
senders, in which both of the electrodes were of hard carbon. Subsequently 
came other and rapid modifications of the sender, both in the United States 
and Europe, till the form of telephone now in popular use was arrived at, 
and which, strange to say, is, in its method of securing the necessary vari- 
able resistance in the circuit, quite like that employed by Mr. Drawbaugh ; 
to wit, the introduction of fine carbon granules into a small metal cup just 
behind the vibrating diaphragm or disk of the sender. The circuit goes into 
the diaphragm in front, passing through the carbon granules and out through 
the back of the instrument. The action of talking into the sender causes the 
granules to be agitated, thus opening and closing the circuit and producing 
the conditions necessary to the transmission of articulate speech. The 
diaphragm or disk is the very thin covering of the cup containing the gran- 
ules. It is sometimes made of carbon, but generally of hard metal, as steel. 
On being struck by the sound waves of the voice, it vibrates to correspond. 
The same vibrations are reproduced in the receiver at the opposite end of the 
circuit, and thus one listens to the phenomenon of transmitted human speech. 
The current for telephonic purposes is furnished by one or more batteries or 
cells, whose effect is heightened by the presence of an induction coil. The 
tendency now is to make " bipolars " — two contacts at the diaphragm — in 
place of a single contact. This style is becoming more in vogue in order to 
meet the demands of long-distance work. To each telephone is attached a 
generator or device for ringing a little bell as a signal that some one wishes 
to communicate. To such perfection have telephones been brought that it is 
quite possible to converse intelligibly at the distance of a thousand miles, 
with a less satisfactory service at twice or thrice that distance. The possi- 
bilities of clear speech-transmission at indefinite distance are without mea- 
sure. Like the telegraph, the telephone has opened an immense and profit- 
able industry, involving hundreds of millions of dollars. At the end of the 
century it is, unfortunately, monopolistic ; but the time is near when a rea- 
sonable charge for service will enable every business house to communicate 
with its customers, and when even the remote corners of counties will be 
brought into touch with their capitals and with one another. Along the 
lines of civilizing contact the telephone fairly divides the wonders of the 
century with the telegraph, while for intimate intellectual communication it 
is a triumph of genius without parallel. It is the dispenser of speech in city, 
town, and village ; in factory and mine, in army and navy ; throughout gov- 
ernment departments ; and in Budapest, Hungary, it is a purveyor of general 
news, like the newspaper, for the " Telephone Gazette " of that city has a 
list of regular subscribers, to whom it transmits, at private houses, clubs, 
cafes, restaurants, and public buildings, its editorials, telegrams, local news, 
and advertisements. 

A very natural outgrowth of the telephone was that curious invention 
known as the phonograph (Gr. phone, sound, and graphein, to write). It is 




WONDERS OF ELECTRICITY 35 

not only an instrument for writing or preserving sound, but for reproducing 
it. As a simple recorder of sound, it was an instrument dating as far back as 
1807, when Dr. Young showed how a tuning-fork might be made to trace a 
record of its own vibrations. But Young's 
thought had to go through more than half 
a century of slow evolution before the mod- 
ern phonograph was reached ; for in the 
phonautograph of Scott, the logographs of 
Barlow and Blake, and the various other 
attempts up to 1877 to make and preserve 
tracings of speech, there were no success- 
ful means of reproducing speech from those 
tracings hit upon. 

In that year (1877), Edison, in striving to 
make a self-recording telephone by connect- A graphophone. 

ing with its diaphragm or disk a stylus or 

metal point which would record its vibrations upon a strip of tinfoil, accident- 
ally reversed the motion of the tinfoil so that the tracings upon it affected the 
stylus or tracing-point in an opposite direction. To his surprise, he found that 
this reverse motion of the tinfoil, tickling, as it were, the stylus oppositely, 
reproduced the sounds which had at first agitated the diaphragm. It was but 
a step now to the production of his matured phonograph in 1878. He made 
a cylinder with a grooved surface, over which he spread tinfoil. A stylus 
or fine metal point was made to rest upon the tinfoil, so as to produce a 
tracing in it, following the grooves in the cylinder when the latter was made 
to revolve. This stylus was connected with the diaphragm of an ordinary tele- 
phone transmitter. When one spoke into the transmitter, that is, set the 
diaphragm to vibrating, the stylus impressed the vibratory motions of the dia- 
phragm, or, in other words, the waves of the exciting sound, in light indenta- 
tions upon the tinfoil. In order to reproduce the sounds thus registered in 
the tinfoil of the cylinder, it was made to revolve in an opposite direction 
under the point of the stylus, and as the stylus was now affected by precisely 
the same indentations it had first made in the tinfoil, it carried the identical 
vibrations it had recorded back to the diaphragm of the telephone, and thus 
reproduced in audible form the speech that had at first set the diaphragm to 
vibrating. The speech thus reproduced was that of the original speaker in 
pitch and quality. Ingenious and wonderful as Edison's machine was, it was 
susceptible of improvement, and soon Bell and others came forward with a 
phonograph in which the recording cylinder was covered with a hardened 
wax. This was called the graphophone. Again, Berliner improved upon 
the phonograph by using for his tracing surface a horizontal disk of zinc cov- 
ered with wax. By chemical treatment, the tracings made in the wax were 
etched into the zinc, and thus made permanent. Edison made further and 
ingenious improvements upon his phonograph by attaching hearing tubes for 
the ear to the sound receiver, and by the employment of an electric motor 
to revolve the wax cylinder. By the attachment of enlarged trumpets and 
other devices, every form of modern phonograph has been rendered capable 
of reproducing in great perfection the various sounds of speech, song, and 
instrument, and has become a most interesting source of entertainment. 



36 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX 1 " CENTURY 



V. DYNAMO A2S1D MOTOK. 

Dynamo is from the Greek dunamis, meaning power. Motor is from the 
Latin motus, or moveo, to move. Dynamo is the every -day term applied to the 
dynamo-electric machine. Motor is the every-day term applied to the elec- 
tric motor. The dynamo and motor are quite alike in principle of construc- 
tion, yet direct opposites in object and effect. Perhaps it might be well to 
designate both as dynamo-electric machines, and to say that, when such 
machine is used for the conversion of mechanical energy or power of any 
kind into electrical energy or power, it is a dynamo. When a reverse result 
is sought, that is, when electrical energy or power is to be converted into 
mechanical energy or power, the machine that is used is a motor. In practical 
use for most purposes they are brought into cooperation, the dynamo being 
at one end of an electric system, making and sending forth electricity, the 
motor being at the other end, taking up such electricity and running machin- 
ery with it. Both machines were epoch-making in the midst of a wondrous 
century, and both were results of those marvelous evolutions in electrical 
science which characterized the earlier years of the century. 

We have seen how the simple glass cylinder or sulphur roll became, when 
rubbed, a generator of electricity. In a later chapter of electrical history, 
we saw a new and more powerful generator of electricity in the voltaic cell, 
by means of opposing metals acted upon chemically by acids. The greatest, 
grandest, most powerful, and most economic of all generators of electri- 
city was yet to come in the shape of the dynamo. We see its beginnings in 
those investigations of Faraday which led to the discovery of the induction 
coil and the principles of magneto-electric induction. In 1831, he invented 
a simple yet, for that date, wonderful machine, which was none the less the 
first dynamo in principle, because he modestly called it " A New Electrical 
Machine." He mounted a thin disk of copper, about twelve inches in diam- 
eter, upon a central axis, so that it would revolve between the opposite poles 
of a permanent magnet. As the disk revolved, its lower half cut the field of 
force of the magnet, and a current was induced which was carried away by 
means of two collecting brushes, fastened respectively to the axis and circum- 
ference of the disk. This was the first electric current ever produced by a 
permanent magnet. The Faraday machine and others that derived the 
mechanical energy which was converted into electric current from a perma- 
nent magnet were classed as magneto-generators. Soon the electro-magnet 
took the place of the permanent magnet, because it produced a much stronger 
field of force. But then the electro-magnet had to have a current to excite it. 
This current was supplied by a magneto-generator, placed somewhere on the 
dynamo. Now came the thought, suggested by Brett in 1848, that the induced 
currents of the dynamo could themselves be turned to account for increasing 
the strength of the electro-magnets used in inducing them. This was a most 
progressive step in the history of the dynamo. It led to rapid inventions, 
whose principle was based on the fact that every dynamo carried within the 
cores of its magnets enough of unused or residual magnetism to render the 
magnets self-exciting the moment the machine started. So the outside means 
of magnetizing the fields of force of the dynamo passed away. 

The dynamo speedily grew in size and importance. The electro-magnets 



WONDERS OF ELECTRICITY 



37 



or fields of force were greatly increased in number, size, and power. There 
were great improvements in the construction and efficiency of the wire coils 
or armatures which cut the fields of force, and a corresponding increase 
in their number. Commutators and brushes underwent like improvement. 
So, at last, the well-nigh perfect and all-powerful dynamo of the end of the 
century was evolved, with a capacity for delivering, in the form of electricity, 
ninety per cent of the mechanical energy which set it in motion. In the 
application of steam to machinery, eighty per cent, and sometimes more, of 
the energy supplied by a ton of coal is lost. 




A DYNAMO. 



With the perfection of the dynamo, its uses multiplied. It became a prime 
factor in electric lighting. Trolley systems sprang up in city, town, and 
village, taking the place of horse and traction cars. In certain places, as in the 
Baltimore tunnel, the dynamo superseded the engine for hauling freight and 
passenger cars. The mighty dynamos which convert the inexhaustible energy 
of Niagara Falls into electricity send it many miles away to Buffalo, to be 
applied to lighting and to every form of machinery. The end of the century 
sees a power plant in operation in New York city capable of furnishing 
one hundred thousand horse-power, or enough to supply the lighting, rapid 
transit, and thousand and one mechanical needs of the entire municipality. 
The essential parts of an ordinary dynamo are : (1.) The electro-magnets, which, 



38 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

however numerous, are arranged in circular form upon part of the framework 
of the machine. (2.) The iron coils or armatures, mounted in a circle upon a 
wheel. When the wheel revolves, the armatures pass close in front of the 
electro-magnets, cutting through their fields of force, and thereby inducing 
electric current. (3.) The commutator, which consists usually of a series of 
copper blocks arranged around the axle of the armatures, and insulated from 
the axle and from each other. The current passes from the armatures to the 
commutator. If the current be an alternating one, the commutator changes it 
into a continuous one, and the reverse may also be accomplished. (4.) The 
brushes, which are thin strips of copper or carbon, are brought to bear at 
proper points upon the commutator, making connection with each coil or sets 
of coils. They carry the corrected current to the outside line or lines. 
(5.) The outside line or lines, to carry the current away to the motor. (6.) The 
pulley for strap-belting, by means of which the water or steam power used is 
made to turn the dynamo machine. 

But we must not forget the motor as a companion of the dynamo, as its 
indispensable brother, in turning to practical account the electricity sent to it. 
As we have seen, the motor is the reverse of the dynamo, at least in its 
effects. It is fed by the dynamo, and it imparts its power to the machinery 
which it is to set in motion. It is to the dynamo what the water-wheel is to 
the water. In one sense it is an even older invention than the dynamo, but 
its extended commercial application was not possible until the dynamo had 
reached certain stages of perfection. It is generally agreed that the first 
motor of importance was that constructed hj Professor Jacobi, through the 
liberality of the Czar Nicholas, of Russia. Jacobi used two sets of electro- 
magnets, by means of whose mutual attraction and repulsion he rotated a 
wheel on a boat with a power equal to that of eight oarsmen. But as Jacobi's 
electro-magnets required an electric current to magnetize them, and as there 
were then no means of producing such current except by the costly use of the 
voltaic battery, his invention was unripe as to time. 

In 1850, Professor Page, of the Smithsonian Institution, constructed a motor 
which worked ingeniously, but was still open to the objection of cost in supply- 
ing the necessary electric current for the electro-magnets. Though various 
inventions came about having for their object a commercially successful 
motor, such a thing was impossible till Gramme produced his improved and 
effective dynamo in 1871. This dynamo was found to work equally well as a 
motor, and hence it became necessary for electricians to greatly enlarge their 
understanding of the nature of electro-magnetic induction. They soon dis- 
covered many curious things respecting the behavior of induced currents, 
with the result that rapid and simultaneous improvements were made in both 
dynamos and motors. One of the most curious of these discoveries was that 
a motor automatically regulates the amount of current that passes through 
its circuit in proportion to the work it is called upon to do ; that is, if the 
work the machine has to do is decreased, the motor attains a higher speed, 
which higher speed induces a counter electro-motive force sufficient to check 
up the amount of current passing through the motor. So when the motor is 
required to do increased work, the machine slows up ; but with this slowing 
up, the counter electro-motive force decreases, and consequently the current 
passing through the motor increases. 



WONDERS OF ELECTRICITY 



39 



As with the dynamo, one of the marvels of the motor is its efficiency. In 
perfect machines, ninety to ninety-five per cent of the electrical energy sup- 
plied can be converted into mechanical energy. For this reason it has become 
a competitor with, and even successor of, 
steam in countless cases, and especially where 
water-power can be commanded. A prime 
motor, in the shape of a water-wheel, may be 
made to drive scores of secondary motors in 
places hundreds of miles away. The power 
developed by the waterfall at Lauffen, Ger- 
many, is transmitted one hundred miles to 
Frankfort, with a loss of only twenty-five per 
cent of the original horse-power. 

In its adaptation for practical use, the 
•motor, like the dynamo, assumes all sizes and 
embraces a host of ingenious devices, yet its 
power and usefulness always centre around, 
or are contained in, its two efficient parts, 
its armatures and fields of force. We have 
seen how in the dynamo the armatures 

became the source of induced currents by being made to cut the fields of 
force of electro-magnets. Now, a dynamo can be made to work in an oppo- 
site way ; that is, by making the magnetic fields of force rotate in front of 
the coils or armatures. In the motor, the field of force is mostly established 
by the current directly' from the dynamo. This current passes also through 
the armature, which begins to rotate, owing to the force of the field upon it. 
This rotation of the armature through the field of force produces in the arma- 
ture conductors an electro-motive force, which is the measure of the power 
of the motor, be the same great or small. 




THE GOLDEN CANDLESTICK. 



VI. " AND THERE WAS LIGHT." 

Mention of the " candlestick of pure gold " (Ex. xxv. 31) may lead to the 
inference that the primitive artificial light was that of the candle. But 
"candlestick " in connection with the lighting of the temple is clearly a mis- 
nomer. The lamp was the original artifi- 
cial light-giver, unless we choose to except 
the torch ; and if less indispensable than 
in patriarchal times, it is still a favorite 
dispenser of nightly cheer. Prior to the 
middle of the eighteenth century, the lamp 
had practically no evolution. It was the 
same in principle at that date as when it 
illuminated the desert tabernacle. Even 
the splendid enameled glass or decorated 
Persian pottery lamps of Damascus and 
Cairo, and the magnificent brass or bronze 
lamps of Greece, Rome, and the European cathedrals, gave forth their dull, 
unsteady flame and noisome smoke by means of a crude wick lying in a saucer 
or similar receptacle of melted lard, tallow, oil, or some such combustible 




ANCIENT LAMP. 



40 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 




TALLOW DIP. 



liquid. A prime improvement was made in lamp-lighting in 1783, by Leger, 
of Paris, who devised the flat, metallic burner, through which he passed a 
neatly prepared wick. A further improvement was made in 1784 by Argand, 

of Paris, who introduced a burner consisting 
of two circular tubes, between which passed 
a circular wick. The inner tube was perfo- 
rated so as to admit of a draught of air to 
feed the flame on the inside of the wick. In 
order to similarly feed the flame on the out- 
side of the wick, he invented the lamp chim- 
ney, which was at first a crude thing of 
metal. It, however, soon gave way to the 
glass chimney, which has up to the present 
taken on many improved forms, designed 
to secure more perfect combustion and a 
brighter, steadier glow. 

Improvement in lamp-lighting during the 
nineteenth century has consisted of an indefinite number of inventions, all 
aiming at economy, brilliancy, steadiness, convenience, beauty, and so on. 
But in no respect has this improvement been more rapid and radical than in 
the adaptation of lamps to the various combustible fluids that have bid for 
favor. While the various oils, animal and vegetable, 
were almost solely in vogue as illuminants at the be- 
ginning of the century, they were largely superseded 
at a later period by the burning-fluid known as cam- 
phene. This was a purified oil of turpentine, which 
found great favor on account of its economy, con- 
venience, cleanliness, and brillianc}-' of light. But it 
was very volatile, and its vapors formed with air a 
dangerously explosive mixture. Yet with all this it 
might have held its own for a long time, had not 
Gesner, in 1846, discovered that a superior mineral 
oil, which he called "'kerosene," could be readily 
and profitably distilled from the coal found on Prince 
Edward Island. This kerosene or hydrocarbon oil 
speedily displaced camphene as an illuminant. Its 
manufacture rapidly developed into an important 
industry in the United States, and large distilling 
establishments arose, both on the Atlantic coast, 
where foreign coal was used, and throughout the 
country, wherever cannel or other convertible coal 
was found. With the discovery of petroleum in pay- 
ing quantities on Oil Creek, Pa., in 1859, there came 
about a great change in kerosene lamp-lighting. It 
was found, upon analysis, that crude petroleum contained about fifty-five 
per cent of kerosene, which constituted its most important product. The 
manufactories of kerosene from cannel or other coal, therefore, went out of 
existence, and new ones, larger in size and greater in number, sprung up for 
the manufacture of kerosene or, popularly speaking, coal oil, from petroleum. 



i 




MODERN LAMP. 



WONDERS OF ELECTRICITY 41 

This illuminant came into almost universal favor for lamp use, owing to 
its cheapness and brilliancy. It is not free from clanger when improperly 
distilled, but under the operation of stringent laws governing its preparation 
and testing, danger from its use has been reduced to a minimum. In rural 
districts, in smaller towns and villages, wherever economy and convenience 
are essentials, and when beauty in lamp effects is desirable, the kerosene 
illuminant has become indispensable. 

The discovery of petroleum helped further to light the world and distin- 
guish the century. It gave us gasolene, naphtha, gas oil, astral oil, and the 
very effective " mineral sperm," which is almost universally used in light- 
houses and as headlights for locomotives. With the addition of kerosene, a 
favorite light of the beginning of the century — the tallow dip of our grand- 
mothers — began to fall into disuse. The homelike pictures of housewives 
at their annual candle-dippings, or in the manipulation of their moulds, 
became venerable antiques. Candle-light paled in the presence of the higher 
illuminants. Though still a convenient light under certain circumstances, it 
plays a gradually diminishing part amid its superiors. 

One of the signal triumphs of the century has been the introduction of gas- 
lighting. Though illuminating gas made from coal was known as early as 
1691, it did not come into use, except for experiments or in a very special 
way, until the beginning of the nineteenth century. In 1809, a few street 
lamps were lit with gas in London. An unsuccessful attempt was made to 
introduce gas into Baltimore in 1821. Between 1822 and 1827, the gas-light 
began to have a feeble foothold in Boston and New York. Other cities be- 
gan to introduce it as an illuminant in streets and, eventually, in houses. 
But the process was very slow, owing to intense opposition on the part of 
both savants and common people, who saw in it a sure means of destruc- 
tion by poison, explosion, or fire. It was not much before the middle of the 
century that prejudice against illuminating gas was sufficiently allayed to 
admit of its general use. But meanwhile many valuable experiments as to 
its production and adaptation were going on. The most productive source of 
illuminating gas was found to be bituminous coal. Though gas could be pro- 
duced by distillation from other substances, such as shale, lignite, petroleum, 
water, turf, resins, oils, and fats, none could compete in quality, quantity, 
and economy with what is known as ordinary coal gas, at least, not until 
the time came, quite late in the century, when it was found that non-luminous 
gases, such as water gas, could be rendered luminous by impregnating them 
with hydrocarbon vapor. This became known commercially as water gas, 
and it is now largely used in place of coal gas, because it is cheaper and, for 
the most part, equally effective as a luminant. 

Gas-lighting has, of course, its limitations. It is not adapted for use 
beyond the range of cities or towns whose populations are sufficient to war- 
rant the large expenditures necessary for gas plants. It is a special rather 
than general light. Yet within its limited domain of use it has proved of 
wonderful utility, — a source of cheer for millions, a clean, safe, and economic 
light, a convenience far beyond the candle, the lamp, or any previous lighting 
appliance. In the street, it is a source of safety against thieves and way- 
layers. In the slums, it is both policeman and missionarj^ baffling the wrong- 
doer, exposing the secrecy that conduces to crime, laying bare the hotbeds of 



42 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

shame. It is as well a source of heat as light, and consequently convertible 
into power for light mechanical purposes. In the kitchen, it is more and 
more becoming a boon to the housewife, who by means of the gas range 
escapes, in cooking, much of the dust, smoke, worry, and even expense of the 
coal cook stove and range. In the parlor, library, or sick-room, it is a cheerful 
and effective substitute for the coal grate, and may be made to assume the cosy 
qualities and fantastic shapes of the old-fashioned wood fire. Coincident 
with the discovery of petroleum, its inseparable companion, natural gas, came 
into prominence as a source of both light and heat, or this became true, at 
least, after it was ascertained that natural gas regions existed which could be 
tapped by wells, and made to give forth their gaseous product independent of 
the oil that may have at one time existed near or in connection with it. This 
natural source of light and heat became as interesting to the geologist, 
explorer, and capitalist as the source of petroleum itself, and soon every likely 
section was prospected, with the hope of finding and tapping those mysterious 
caverns of earth in which the pent-up luminant abounded in paying quan- 
tities. It was found that workable natural gas regions were numerous in 
the United States, especially in proximity to petroleum or bituminous coal 
deposits, and little time was lost in their development. As if by magic, a 
new and profitable industry sprang into existence. The natural gas well 
became almost as common as the oil well, and at times far more awe-inspiring 
as it shot into space its volcanic blasts which, when ignited through care- 
lessness, as sometimes happened, carried to the vicinage all the dangers and 
terrors of Vesuvius or Stromboli. Powerful as was the force with which 
natural gas sought its freedom, wonderful as was the phenomenon of its 
escape from the subterranean alembic in which it was distilled, human 
genius quickly harnessed it by appliances for conservation and carriage to 
places where it could be utilized. Sometimes great industries sprang up 
contiguous to the wells ; at others, it was carried through pipes to cities 
many miles distant, where it became a light for street, home, and store, and 
a prodigious energy in factory, furnace, forge, and rolling-mill. In fact, no 
marvel of the century has been at once so weird and inscrutable in its origin 
as natural gas, or more potential as an agency within the areas to which 
its use is limited. The question is ever uppermost in connection with 
natural gas, will it last ? The gas springs of the Caucasus Mountains have 
been burning for centuries. But that is where nature's internal forces have 
their correlations and compensations. Where it is quite otherwise, that is, 
where the vents of natural gas reservoirs are abnormally numerous, or where 
those reservoirs are drained to the extreme for commercial purposes, not to 
say through sheer wastefulness, the geologist is ready to surmise that the 
natural gas supply cannot be a perpetual one. 

But one of the most magnificent triumphs of the century in the matter of 
light came about through the agency of electricity. We have already seen 
the beginnings of electric lighting in the discovery of Sir Humphrey Davy, 
in 1809, that when the ends of two conducting wires, mounted with charcoal 
pieces, were brought close together, a brilliant light, in the shape of an arc 
or curve, leaped from one piece of charcoal to the other. Davy's charcoal 
pieces or carbons were consumed by the fierce heat evolved ; but the princi- 
ple was established that an electric current, so interrupted, was a vivid light- 



WONDERS OF ELECTRICITY 



43 



producer, and might be made permanently so if a substance capable of resist- 
ing the heat could be substituted for his charcoal tips, and a generator of 
electricity of sufficient power and economy in use could be substituted for 
his voltaic batteries or cells. 

Upon these two essentials hung the future of the electric light. The first 
essential, that of a substance at the ends of the wires or in the midst of the 
electric circuit which would resist the heat, was soon 
met by the use of specially prepared and hard gra- 
phite carbon tips, in the shape of candles. But the sec- 
ond essential, a generator of electricity cheaper and 
more powerful than the voltaic cell, was not met with 
till the dynamo machine reached an advanced stage 
of perfection ; that is, about 1867. 

The two grand essentials now being at command, 
invention of electric light appliances went on rapidly 
upon two lines, eventuating in two systems, which be- 
came known as arc lighting and incandescent lighting. 
By 1879-80, the arc light was sufficiently advanced to 
meet with favor as an illuminant for streets, railway 
stations, markets, and any large spaces, in which places 
it became a substitute for gas and other lights. The 
essential features of the arc light are : (1.) The dynamo 
machine, situated in some central place, for the gen- 
eration of electricity. (2.) Conducting wires to carry 
the electricity throughout the areas or to the places 
to be lighted. (3.) The arc lamp, which may be sus- 
pended upon poles in the streets, or upon wires in 
stores and other covered places. Its mechanism con- 
sists of two pencils or candles of graphite carbon, 
very hard and incombustible, adjusted above and be- 
low each other so that their tips or ends are very 
close together, but not in contact. By means of a 
clockwork or simple gravity device these carbon tips 
are brought into contact at the moment the electric 
current is turned on, and then are slightly separated 
■as soon as the current has heated them. The air 
between the heated tips, having also reached a high temperature, becomes a 
conductor, and the electricity leaps in the form of an arc or curve through it, 
rendering it brilliantly incandescent. Should the current be diminished in 
strength for any reason, the above-mentioned clockwork or gravity device 
brings the carbons a little closer together ; and should the current be 
increased, the carbons are separated a little wider ; thus the steadiness of the 
light is regulated. There are also various automatic devices for thus regulat- 
ing the proximity of the carbons and maintaining the evenness of the glow. 
The power of an arc light is measured by candles. An ordinary arc light under 
two amperes of current gives a light equal to twenty-five candles, while under 
fifty amperes of current it gives a light equal to twenty thousand candles. 
In searchlights on board vessels, and where very large areas are to be 
lighted, both heavier currents and larger carbons are used than in the arc 




ELECTRIC ARC LIGHT. 



44 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

lamps for ordinary street purposes. No light surpasses the arc light in 
brilliancy, excepting the magnesium light. There are few cities in this 
country and Europe that do not employ the arc lamp as a means of street, 
station, and large-area lighting, owing to its superiority as an illuminant and 
the wonderful policing effect it has upon the slum sections. 

The incandescent lamp, or electric lighting by incandescence, underwent 
a somewhat longer evolution at the hands of inventors than the arc lamp, 
owing to the difficulty of finding a substance suitable for the production of 
the necessary glow. The discovery of such substance may be accredited* to 
Edison more fully than to any other. The incandescent or glow lamp is a 
glass bulb from which the air is exhausted. There passes into the bulb a fila- 
ment of carbon, which, after a turn or two inside the bulb, passes out at the 
end through which it entered. When a current from a voltaic battery is sent 
through this carbon filament, it brings it, in the absence of oxygen within the 
bulb, to a high white heat without combustion. The portion of this high 
white heat which is radiated is the light-giving energy of the incandescent 
lamp. Metal filaments were at first tried in the bulb, but they quickly burned 
out. Carbon filaments were at length found to be the only ones capable of 
resisting the heat. They moreover had the advantage of cheapness, and of 
greater radiating energy than metals. Many substances, such as silk, cotton, 
hair, etc., were used in the preparation of the carbon filaments, but it was 
found that strips cut from the inside bark of the bamboo gave, when brought 
to a white heat by an electric current and then properly treated, the most tena- 
cious and best conducting carbon filament. 

The quality of light produced by an incandescent lamp is a gentler glow 
than that produced by the arc lamp, and in color more nearly resembles the 
light of gas or the oil lamp. The incandescent light speedily became for 
the home, hotel, hall, and limited covered area what the arc light became 
for the street and railway station, and, if anything, the former outstripped 
the latter in the extent and value of the industry it gave rise to. 

In the arc lamp, the carbon pencils have to be renewed daily. In the incan- 
descent lamp, the carbon filament, though very delicate, may last for quite 
a time, because incandescence takes place in the absence of oxygen. If the 
favor in which the electric light is held, and the great extent of its use, rested 
solely on the question of cheapness of production, such question would give 
rise to interesting debate. And, indeed, the debate would continue, if the 
question were the superior fitness of electric lighting for lighthouses and like 
service, where extreme brilliancy does not seem to penetrate a thick atmo- 
sphere as effectively as the more subdued glow of the oil lamp. But the 
debate ceases when the question is as to the beauty and efficiency of the 
electric light in the home, street, station, mine, on shipboard, and the thou- 
sand and one other places in which it has come to be deemed an essential 
equipment. In all such places the question of economy of production and 
use is subordinate to the higher question of utility and indispensability. 

VII. ELECTRIC LOCOMOTION. 

The dawn of the nineteenth century saw, as vehicles of locomotion, the 
saddled hackney, the clumsy wagon, the ostentatious stage-coach, the prim- 
itive dearborn, the lumbering carriage, the poetic "one-hoss shay." The 



WONDERS OF ELECTRICITY 



45 



universal energy was the horse. A new energy came with the application 
of steam, and with it new vehicular locomotion, — easier, swifter, stronger, for 
the most part cheaper, rendering possible what was hitherto impossible as to 
time and distance. 

This signal triumph of the century may not have been eclipsed by the 
introduction of subsequent locomotive changes, but it was to be supplemented 
by what, at the beginning, would have passed for the idle dream of a vision- 
ary. The horse-car came, had its brief day, and went out with all its incon- 
veniences, cruelties, and horrors before, in part, the traction-car, and, in part, 
the rapidly revolutionizing energy of electricity. 




EI,ECTKTC LOCOMOTIVE. 



The first conception of a railway to be operated by electricity dates from 
about 1835,. when Thomas Davenport, of Brandon, Vt., contrived and moved 
a small car by means of a current from voltaic cells placed within it. In 
1851, Professor Page, of the Smithsonian Institution, ran a car propelled by 
electricity upon the steam railway between Washington and Baltimore, but 
though he obtained a high rate of speed, the cost of supplying the current by 
means of batteries — the only means then known — prohibited the commer- 
cial use of his method. 

With the invention of the dynamo as an economic and powerful generator 
of electricity, and also the invention of the motor as a means of turning 
electrical energy to mechanical account, the way was open, both in the 
United States and Europe, for more active investigation of the question of 
electric-car propulsion. Between 1S72 and 1887, different inventors, at home 



46 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX T " CENTURY 

and abroad, placed in operation several experimental electric railways. Few 
of them proved practical, though each furnished a fund of valuable experi- 
ence. An underground electric street railway was operated in Denver as 
early as 1885 ; but the one upon the trolley plan, which proved sufficiently suc- 
cessful to warrant its being called the first operated in the United States, 
was built in Richmond, Va., in 1888. It gave such impetus to electric rail- 
way construction that, in five years' time, enormous capital was embarked, 
and the new means of propulsion was generally accepted as convenient, safe, 
and profitable. 

The essential features of the electric railway are : (1.) The track of two 
rails, similar to the steam railway. (2.) The cars, lightly yet strongly built. 
(3.) The power-house, containing the dynamos which generate the electricity. 
(4.) The feed-wire, usually of stout copper, running the length of the tracks 
of the system, and supported on poles or laid in conduits. (5.) The trolley- 
wire over the centre of the track, supported by insulated cross-wires passing 
from poles on opposite sides of the tracks, and connected at proper inter- 
vals with the feed-wire. (6.) The trolley-pole of metal jointed to the top of 
the car, and fitted with a spring which presses the wheel on the end of 
the pole up against the trolley-wire with a force of about fifteen pounds, and 
which also serves to conduct the electricity down through the car to the 
motor. (7.) The motor, which is suspended from the car truck, and passes its 
power to the car axle by means of a spur gearing. The power requisite for 
an ordinary trolley-car is about fifteen horse-power. The speed of trolley-cars 
is regulated in cities to from five to seven miles per hour, but they may be 
run, under favorable conditions, at a speed equal to, or in excess of, that of 
the steam-car. 

As a means of city transit, and of rapid, convenient, and economic inter- 
course between suburban localities and rural towns and villages, the electric 
traction system ranks as one of the greatest wonders of the century. The 
speed with which it found favor, the enormous capital it provoked to activity, 
the stimulus it gave to further study and invention, the surprising number of 
passengers carried, go to make one of the most interesting chapters in electric 
annals. The end of the century sees thousands of these electric roads in 
existence ; a comparatively new industry involving over $100,000,000 ; a pas- 
senger traffic running into the billions of people ; a prospect that the trolley 
will succeed the steam-car for all utilizable purposes within the gradually 
extending influence of cities and towns upon their rural surroundings. 

In speaking of the passing of the horse-car and its substitution by the 
trolley, a distinguished writer has well said : " Humanity in an electric-car 
differs widely from that in the horse-car, propelled at the expense of animal 
life. It is more cheerful, more confident, more awake to the energy at com- 
mand, more imbued with the subtlety and majesty of the propelling force. . 
The motor confirms the ethical fact that each introduction of a higher 
material force into the daily uses of humanity lifts it to a broader, brighter 
plane, gives its capabilities freer and more wholesome play, and opens fresh 
vistas for all possibilities. We applaud Franklin for seizing the lightning in 
the heavens, dragging it down to earth, and subjugating it to man. Let this 
pass as part of the poetry of physics. But when ethics comes to poetize, let 
it be said that electricity as an applied force lifts man up toward heaven, 



WONDERS OF ELECTRICITY 



47 



quickens all his appreciations of divine energy, draws him irresistibly toward 
the centre and source of nature's forces. There is no dragging down and 
subjugation of a physical force. There is only a going out, or up, of genius 
to meet and to grasp it. Its universal application means the raising of man- 
kind to its plane. If electricity be the principle of life, as some suppose, 
what wonder that we all feel better in an electric-car than any other ? The 
motor becomes a sublime motive. God himself is tugging at the wheels, and 
we are riding with the Infinite." 

Enthusiasts say the trolley is only the beginning of electric locomotion, and 




ELECTRIC RAILWAY. THIRD RAIL SYSTEM. 



that there is already in rapid evolution an electric system which will supersede 
steam even for trunk-line purposes. In vision, it presumes a speed of one hun- 
dred and twenty -five miles an hour instead of forty ; greater safety, cleanli- 
ness, and comfort ; and what is most momentous and startling, an economy in 
construction and operation which will warrant the sacrifice of the billions of 
dollars now invested in steam-railway properties. The proposition is not to 
sacrifice the steam-railway track, but to add to it a third rail, which is to carry 
the electric current. Then, by means of feed-conduits alongside of the track, , 
and specially constructed electric locomotives and cars, the system is sup- 
posed to reach the practical perfection claimed for it. Experiments with such 
an electrical system, made upon branch lines of some of our trunk-line rail- 



48 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

ways, as the Pennsylvania, New York Central, and New Haven & Hartford, 
give much encouragement to the hypothesis that it may become the next 
great step in the evolution of electrical science. 

Another means of electric propulsion was provided by the investigations 
of Plante, which resulted in his invention of the " accumulator " or " storage 
battery," in 1859. His battery consists of plates of lead immersed in dilute 
sulphuric acid. By the passage of an electric current through the acid, it is 
electrolytically decomposed. By continuing the current for a time, first in 
one direction and then in another, the lead plates become changed, the one at 
the point where the current leaves the cell taking on a deposit of spongy 
lead, and the one at the point where the current enters the cell taking on a 
coating of oxide of lead. When in this condition, the battery is said to be 
stored, and is capable of sending out an electric current in any circuit with 
which it may be connected. After exhausting itself, it can be re-stored or re- 
charged in the same way as at first. Faure greatly improved on Plante's 
storage battery in 1880, by spreading the oxide of lead over the plates, thus 
greatly reducing the time in forming the plates. Subsequently, further 
improvements were made, till batteries came into existence capable of supply- 
ing a current of many hundred amperes for several hours. One of the first 
practical uses to which the storage battery was put was in the propulsion of 
street-cars ; but its weight proved a drawback. It was found better adapted 
for the running of boats on rivers, and, in the business of water-freightage 
for short distances, has in many instances become a rival of steam. It found 
one of its most interesting applications in helping to solve the problem of 
the automobile, or ''horseless carriage," either for pleasure purposes or for 
street traffic. In this problem it has, at the end of the century, an active 
rival in compressed air; but as the '-horseless carriage" is rapidly coming 
into demand, means may soon be found to utilize the strong and persistent 
energy of the storage battery, without the drawback found in its great weight. 

VIII. THE X RAY. 

An astounding electrical revelation came during the last years of the cen- 
tury through the discovery of the X, or unknown, or Roentgen ray. A hint 
of this discovery was given by Faraday during his investigation of the 
effect of electric discharges within rarefied gases. He also invented the 
terms anode and cathode, both of which are in universal use in connection 
with instruments for producing the X rays ; the anode being the positive pole 
or electrode of a galvanic battery, or, in general, the terminal of the con- 
ductor by which a current enters an electrolytic cell ; and the cathode being 
the negative pole or electrode by which a current leaves said cell. 

Geissler followed Faraday with an improved system of tubes for contain- 
ing rarefied gases for experimentation. He partially exhausted his tubes of 
air, introduced into them permanent and sealed platinum electrodes, and pro- 
duced those wonderful effects by the discharge obtained by connecting the 
electrodes with the terminals of an electric machine or induction coil, which 
from their novelty and beauty became known as Geissler effects, just as his 
tubes became known as Geissler tubes. In the attenuated atmosphere of the 
Geissler tube, the current does not pass directly from one platinum point or 
electrode to the other, but, instead, illuminates the entire atmospheric space. 



WONDERS OF ELECTRICITY 



49 




geissler's tubes. 



When other gases are introduced in rarefied form, they are similarly illumi- 
nated, but in colors corresponding to their composition. In his further experi- 
ments, Geissler noted that the gases in the tube behaved differently at the 
anode, or positive terminal, and the cathode, or negative 
terminal. A beautiful bluish light appeared at the cath- 
ode, while the anode assumed the same color as the 
illuminated space in the tube. It was also noted that 
after the electric discharge within the tube, there re- 
mained upon the inner surface of the glass a fluorescent 
or phosphorescent glow, which was attributed to the 
effect of the cathode. 

This brought the study of the cathode rays into promi- 
nence, and through the investigations of Professor Wil- 
liam Crookes, in 1879 and afterwards, a conclusion was 
reached that a " Fourth State of Matter " really existed. 

He perfected tubes of very high vacuum, by means of which he showed that 
molecules of gas projected from the cathode moved freely and with great 
velocity among one another, and so bombarded the inner walls of the tube as 
to render it fluorescent. 

Subsequently, Hertz showed that the cathodic rays would penetrate thin 
sheets of metal placed within the tube or bulb; and soon after, Paul Lenard 
(1894) demonstrated that the cathodic ray could be investigated as well out- 
side of the tube or bulb as within it. He set an aluminum plate in the glass 
wall of the bulb opposite the cathode. Though ordinary light could not 
penetrate the aluminum plate, it was readily pierced by the cathodic rays, to 
a distance of three inches beyond its outside surface. With these rays, thus 
freed from their inclosure, he produced the same fluorescent effects as had 
been noted within the bulb, and even secured some photographic effects. 
These cathodic rays produced no effect on the eye, which proved their dissim- 
ilarity to light. Lenard showed further that the cathodic rays outside of 
the tube could be deflected from their straight course by a magnet, that 
they might pass through substances opaque to light, and that in so passing 
they might cast a shadow of objects less opaque, which shadow could be 
photographed. Now Professor Roentgen came upon the scene. He had been 
conducting his experiments in Germany, along the same lines as Lenard, and 
had reached practically the same results as to the penetrative, fluorescent, 
and photographic effects of the cathodic rays. But he had gone still fur- 
ther, and, in 1896, fairly set the scientific world aflame with the announce- 
ment that all the effects produced by Lenard in the limited space of a few 
inches could also be produced at long distances from the tube, and with 
sufficient intensity to depict solid substances within or behind other sub- 
stances sufficiently solid to be impermeable by light. Professor Roent- 
gen claims that his X ray is different from the cathodic ray of Lenard and 
others, because it cannot be deflected by a magnet. This claim has given 
rise to much controversy respecting the real nature of the X ray, a contro- 
versy not likely to end soon, yet one full of inspiration to further inves- 
tigation. 

The essential features of the best approved apparatus designed to produce 
the X ray and to secure a photograph of an invisible object, are : (1.) A bat- 
4 



50 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 



tery or light dynamo as a generator of the electric current, accompanied, of 
course, by the necessary induction coil, which should be so wound as to give 
a spark of at least two inches in length in the tube where a picture of a sim- 
ple object, as a coin in a purse, is desired ; a spark of four inches in length 
where pictures of the bones of the hands, feet, or arms are desired ; and a 
spark of from eight to ten inches in length where inside views of the chest, 
thighs, or abdomen are desired. (2.) The second essential is the glass tube. 

The one in common use is the Crookes 
tube, usually pear-shaped, and resting 
upon a stand. Into it is inserted two 
aluminum electrodes or disks, the one 
through the smaller end of the tube be- 
ing used as the cathode, and the one 
from below and near the large end be- 
ing used as the anode. (3.) A fluoroscope 
with which to observe the conditions 
inside the tube necessary to the produc- 
tion of the X ray, to decide upon its 
proper intensity, and to establish the 
proper degree of fluorescence. The fa- 
vorite fluoroscope for this purpose is 
the one invented by Edison. It is in 
the form of a stereopticon, in which 
is a dark chamber after the manner of 
a camera. In front are two openings, 
admitting of a view within of both 
eyes. At the opposite, and greatly 
enlarged, end is a screen which is ren- 
dered fluorescent by means of a new sub- 
stance (tungstate of calcium) discovered by Mr. Edison after some eighteen 
hundred experiments. Such is the power of this fluoroscope that it maybe 
used as an independent instrument in cases of minor surgery to locate bullets 
or other objects buried in the flesh, even before a photograph has been taken. 
(4.) The photographic plate, which is prepared with a sensitized film and 
mounted in a frame as in ordinary photography. Upon this film the object 
to be photographed is laid, say, for instance, the human hand, care being 
taken to have the film or pl^te at a proper distance from the Crookes tube. 
Current is now turned into the tube, the X ray is developed, the film is 
exposed to its effects, and the result is a negative showing the interior struc- 
ture of the hand, — the bones or any foreign object therein. This negative is 
developed as in ordinary photography. 

The discovery and application of the X ray has proved of immense value 
in medicine and surgery. By its means the physician is enabled to carry on 
far-reaching diagnoses, and to ascertain with certainty the whole internal 
structure of the human bodjr. Eractures, dislocations, deformities, and dis- 
eases of the bones may be located and their character and treatment decided 
upon. In dentistry, the teeth may be photographed by means of the X ray, 
even before they come to the surface, and broken fangs and hidden fillings 
may be located. Eoreign objects in the body, as bullets, needles, calculi in 




SCIAGRAPH OR SHADOW PICTURE. 
By X Raj' process. 



WONDERS OF ELECTRICITY 51 

the bladder, etc., may be localized, and the surgery necessary for their safe 
removal greatly simplified. The beating of the heart, movement of the ribs 
in respiration, and outline of the liver may be exhibited to the eye. It has 
been boldly suggested that in the X ray will be found an agent capable of 
destroying the various bacilli which infest the human system, and become 
germs of such destructive diseases as cholera, yellow fever, typhoid fever, 
diphtheria, and consumption. Even if this be speculative as yet, there is 
still room for marvel at the actual results of the discovery of the X ray, and 
its future study opens a field full of the grandest possibilities. 

IX. OTHER ELECTRICAL WONDERS. 

The novel idea of keeping time by means of electricity originated quite 
early in the century, and culminated in two kinds of electric clocks, one 
moved directly by the electric current, the other moved by weights or springs, 
but regulated by electricity. The former have the advantage of running a 
very long time without attention, but as it is impossible to keep up an unvary- 
ing electric current, they are not so accurate as the latter in keeping time. 
Though the latter are popularly called electric clocks, they are really only 
clocks regulated by electricity, and in such regulation the electric current 
comes to be a most important agent, as is proved at all centres of astronomi- 
cal and other observations, as at Greenwich and Washington. At such cen- 
tres the astronomical time-keeper is set up so as to run as infallibly as possible. 
This central time-keeper, say at Washington, is electrically connected with 
other clocks, at observatories, signal-service stations, railway stations, clock- 
stores, city halls, etc., throughout the country. Should any of these clocks 
lose or gain the minutest fraction of time as compared with that of the cen- 
tral time-keeper, the electric current corrects such loss or gain, and so keeps 
all the clocks at a time uniform with one another and with the central one. 
Electrical devices are also often attached to individual clocks, as those upon 
city hall towers and in exposed places, for the purpose of meeting and cor- 
recting inequalities of time occasioned by weather exposure, expansion and 
contraction by heat and cold, etc. 

The fatherhood of the very useful and elegant arts of electrotyping and 
electroplating is in dispute. Daniell, while perfecting his battery, noticed 
that a current of electricity would cause a deposit of copper. In 1831, Jacobi, 
of St. Petersburg, called attention to the fact that the copper deposited on 
his plates of copper by galvanic action could be removed in a perfect sheet, 
which presented in relief, and most accurately, every accidental indentation 
on the original plates. Following this up, he employed for his battery an 
engraved copper plate, caused the deposit to be formed upon it, removed the 
deposit, and found that the engraving was impressed on it in relief, and 
with sufficient firmness and sharpness to enable him to print from it. Jacobi 
called his discovery galvanoplasty in the publication of his observations in 
1839. It was but a step from this discovery to the application of the electro- 
typing process to the art of printing. A mould of wax, plaster, or other suit- 
able substance is made of an engraving or of a page of type. This mould is 
covered with powdered graphite (black lead) so as to make it a conductor 
of electricity. It is then inserted in a bath containing a solution of sulphate 
of copper. An electric current is passed through the bath, and the copper is 



52 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

deposited on the mould in sufficient quantity to give it a hard surface capable 
of offering greater resistance in printing than the types themselves, and also 
of producing a clearer impression. In electroplating, practically the same 
principle is employed. The bath is made to contain a solution of water, 
cyanide of potassium, and whatever metal — gold, silver, platinum, etc. — 
it is designed to precipitate on the article to be electroplated. The current 
is then passed through the bath, and the, article — spoon, knife, fork, etc. — 
to be electroplated receives its coating of gold, silver, German silver, plati- 
num, or whatever has been made the third agent in the bath. 

The various modern submarine devices for the destruction of ships, 
known as torpedoes, submarine mines, etc., depend upon electricity for their 
efficiency. It is the lighting or firing agent, and is carried to the torpedo 
or mine by means of stout wires or cables from some safe shore-point of 
observation. 

In railroading, electricity has become an indispensable agent for the 
operation of signal systems, opening and closing of switches, and limitation 
of safety sections. It moves the drill in the mine, sets off the blast, and 
supplies the light. It enables the dentist to manipulate his most delicate 
tools and do his cleanest and least painful work. In medicine it is a healing, 
soothing agent, boundless in variety of application and wondrous in results. 
It is a stimulus to the growth of certain plants, and has given rise to a new 
science called Electro-horticulture. It may be made a prolific source of heat 
for warming cars, and even for the welding of iron and steel. The electric 
. fan cools our parlors and offices in summer, and the electric bell simplifies 
household service. In fact, it would appear that, in contrasting the electrical 
beginnings with the electrical endings of the nineteenth century, the space 
of a thousand rather than a hundred years had intervened, and that in 
measuring the agents which conduce to human comfort and convenience, 
electricity is easily the most potential. 

X. ELECTRICAL LANGUAGE. 

Out of the various discoveries and applications of electricity almost a new 
language has sprung. This is especially so of terms expressive of the mea- 
surements of electric energy, and of the laws governing the application of 
electric power. For a time, various nations measured and applied by means 
of terms chosen by themselves. This led to a jargon very confusing to 
writers and investigators. It became needful to have a language more in com- 
mon, as in pharmacy, so that all nations could understand one another, could 
compute alike, and especially impart their meaning to those whose dut}' it 
became to apply discovered laws and actual calculations to practical electric 
operations. This was a difficult undertaking, owing to the tenacity with which 
nations clung to their own nomenclatures and terminologies. But the drift, 
though slow, finally ended at the Electrical Congress in Paris in 1881, in the 
adoption of a uniform system of measurements of electric force, and an 
agreement upon terms for laws and their application, which all could under- 
stand. 

Three fundamental units of measurement were first agreed upon. — the 
Centimetre (.394 in.) as a unit of length; the Gramme (ir>.43troy grains) as 
a unit of mass ; the Second (^ of a minute) as a unit of time. These three 



WONDERS OF ELECTRICITY 53 

units became, when referred to together by their initial letters, the basis of 
the C. G. S. system of units. Now by these units of measurement some- 
thing must be measured, as, for instance, the electric force ; and when so 
measured, an absolute unit of force must be the result. 

Dyne: — This is but a contraction of dynam, force. It was adopted as 
the name of the " Absolute Unit of Force," or the C. G. S. unit of force, and 
is that force which, if it act for a second on one gramme of matter, gives to 
it a velocity of one centimetre per second. 

Ampere : — Electrical force produces electrical current. Current must 
be measured and an absolute unit of current strength agreed upon. The 
" Absolute Unit of Current " was settled as one of such strength as that 
when one centimetre length of its circuit is bent into an arc of one centi- 
metre radius, the current in it exerts a force of one dyne on a unit magnet- 
pole placed at the centre. But the absolute unit of current as thus obtained 
was decided to be ten times too great for practical purposes. So a practical 
unit of current was fixed upon, which is just one tenth part of the above abso- 
lute unit of current. This practical unit of current was called the ampere, in 
honor of the celebrated French electrician, Ampere. It may be ascertained 
in other ways, as when a current is of sufficient strength to deposit in a 
copper electrolytic cell 1.174 grammes (18.116 grains) of copper in an hour, 
such current is said to be of one ampere strength ; or a current of one 
ampere strength is such a one as would be given by an electro-motive force' 
of one volt through a wire offering one ohm of resistance. 

Volt: — This was named from Volta, the celebrated Italian electrician, 
and was agreed upon as the unit of electro-motive force. It is that elec- 
tro-motive force which would be generated by a conductor cutting across 
100,000,000 C. G. S. lines in a field of force per second ; or it is that electro- 
motive force which would carry one ampere of current against one ohm of 
resistance. 

Ohm : — So called from Ohm, a German electrician. It is the unit of 
resistance offered by a conductor to the passage of an electrical current. As 
an absolute unit of resistance, it is equal to 1,000,000,000 C. G. S. units of 
resistance. As a practical unit, and as agreed upon at the International 
Congress of Electricians (Chicago, 1893), it represents the resistance offered 
to an electric current at the temperature of melting ice by a column of mer- 
cury 14.451 grammes in mass, of a constant cross-sectional area, and 106.3 
centimetres in length. This is called the international ohm. The resistance 
offered by 400 feet of ordinary telegraph wire is about an ohm. 

These three units — ampere, volt, and ohm — are the factors in Ohm's 
famous law that the current is directly proportional to the electro-motive 
force exerted in a circuit, and inversely proportional to the resistance of the 
circuit ; that is, — 

Current = T^ ec t r °- m °ti ve force 
Resistance 
or, 

Electro-motive force = Current x Resistance 
or 

Resistance = Electro-motive force 
Current. 



54 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

Erg : — From the Greek ergon, work, is the unit of work required to move 
a force of one dyne one centimetre. One foot-pound equals 13,560 ergs. 

Calorie : — Latin calor, heat, is the unit of heat ; being the amount of 
heat required to raise the temperature of one kilogram of water one degree 
centigrade. 

Coulomb : — In honor of C. A. de Coulomb, of France. It is the practical 
unit of quantity in measuring electricity, and is the amount conveyed by one 
ampere in one second. 

Farad : — From Faraday, the physicist. It is the unit of electric capa- 
city, and is the capacity of a condenser that retains one coulomb of charge 
with one volt difference of potential. 

Gauss:— From Carl F. Gauss (1785-1855). The C. G. S. unit of flux- 
density, or the unit by which the intensity of magnetic fields are measured. 
It equals one weber per normal square centimetre. 

Gilbert : — The unit for measuring magneto-motive force, being produced 
by .7958 ampere-turn approximately. 

Henry : — From Joseph Henry, of the Smithsonian Institution, Washing- 
ton, D. C. The practical unit for measuring the induction in a circuit when 
the electro-motive force induced is one international volt, while the inducing 
current varies at the rate of one ampere per second. 

Joule : — The C. G. S. unit of practical energy, being equivalent to the 
work done in keeping up for one second a current of one ampere against a 
resistance of one ohm. Named from J. P. Joule, of England. 

Oersted : — From Oersted, the electrician. It is the practical unit for 
measuring electrical reluctance. 

Watt : — The practical electrical unit of the rate of working in a circuit, 
when the electro-motive force is one volt, and the intensity of current is one 
ampere. It is equal to 107 ergs per second, or .00134 horse-power per second. 
Named from James Watt, of Scotland. 

Weber : — The practical unit for measuring magnetic flux. Named from 
W. Weber, of Germany. 



THE CENTURY'S NAVAL PROGRESS 

By REAR ADMIRAL GEORGE WALLACE MELVILLE, U. S. N. 

I. INFLUENCE OF SEA POWER. 

The share of navies in the great movements which have moulded human 
destiny and shaped the world's progress, although long obscure and under- 
valued, has met in our time full recognition. Within a decade the influence 
of sea power upon history has become the frequent theme of historians and 
essayists who, in clear and striking form, have shown the cardinal importance, 
both in war and commerce, of the fleet — the nation's right arm on the sea. 
It is fitting, therefore, that in the retrospect of a hundred years navies 
should have their place ; that, in looking backward with history's unclouded 
vision, we should mark, not only their growth and change, but, as well, their 
achievement in some of the most memorable conflicts of our race. 

The century had but begun when, at Copenhagen, Nelson, with one titanic 
blow, shattered the naval strength of Denmark and the coalition of the 
Northern powers. His signal there, ever for " closer battle," told in few 
words the life story of the Great Admiral, and foreshadowed his end. Four 
years later, at Trafalgar, the desire of his eager heart was satisfied, when he 
met in frank fight the fleets of France and Spain. Amid the thundering 
cannonade of that last victory his life-tide ebbed, bearing with it the power 
of France upon the seas and the broken fortunes of Napoleon. In the war 
of 1812, our disasters upon the land met compensation in victory afloat. The 
United States was then among the feeblest of maritime powers ; and yet Mac- 
donough and Perry on the lakes and our few frigates on the ocean opposed, 
with success, the swarming squadrons of a nation whose naval glory, as 
Hallam says, can be traced onward " in a continuous track of light " from the 
days of the Commonwealth. The oppression of the Sultan was ended for 
a time when, in 1827, the Turkish and Egyptian fleets were annihilated, in 
sudden fury, by the allied squadrons in that brief engagement which Welling- 
ton termed the " untoward event " of Navarino. 

A generation later, the command of the sea enabled England and France 
to despatch, in unarmed transports, 63,000 men and 128 guns to the Crimea, 
and to land them, without opposition, for the red carnage of the Alma, Bala- 
klava, Inkerman, and Sebastopol. Following closely upon the disease and 
death, the fatuity and the glory, of the Crimea, came the great war of modern 
times, in which the gun afloat played such a gallant part, as the blockade, 
with its constricting coils, slowly starved and strangled the Confederacy to 
death, and Farragut, on inland waters, split it in twain. Passing over the sea- 
fights of Lissa, — in which imperial Venice was the stake, — of South America 
and the Yalu, we note, lastly, the swift and fateful actions off Santiago and 
in Manila Bay, which destroyed once again the sea power of Spain, won dis- 
tant territory for the United States, and opened up for us a noble pathway 
of commercial expansion to the uttermost island of the broad Pacific and the 



56 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



vast Asian littoral beyond. Who will say, in the retrospect of the century, 
that the fleets of the world have not had their full share in the making of its 
history ? 

II. THE CENTURY'S GROWTH IX XAVAL STREXGTH. 

The United States fleet, in the year 1800, comprised 35 vessels, 10 of which 
were frigates mounting 32 guns or more. In 1812, America entered the lists 
against a navy of a thousand sail, with a fleet of but 20 ships, the largest of 
which was a 44-gun frigate. The operations of the Civil War were begun with 
but 82 vessels, 48 of which were sailing craft. Before the close of that gigantic 




AX AUGUST MORNING WITH FARRAGUT. 
(Battle of Mobile Bay.) 

struggle there were added, by construction or purchase, 674 steamers. In 
1898, during the war with -Spain, there were borne on the Naval Eegister, as 
building or in service, 13 battleships and 176 other vessels, including torpedo 
craft, with 123 converted merchantmen. The total naval force during hostil- 
ities was 22,832 men and 2382 officers, excluding the Marine Corps. 

At London, in 1653, there was printed "A List of the Commonwealth of 
England's Navy at Sea, in their expedition in May, 1653, under the command 
of the Eight Honorable Colonel Richard Deane and Colonel George Monk, 
Esquires, Generals, and Admirals." This quaint record of that early time 
gives the force afloat as 105 ships, 3840 guns, and 16,269 men. In Britain's 
strife for that ocean empire, which is world empire, that fleet had grown, by 
the year 1800, to 757 vessels, built or building, with an aggregate tonnage of 
629,211, and carrying 26,552 guns, 3653 officers, and 110,000 men. The 
stately three-decker, with its snowy canvas and maze of rigging, has vanished 
with the past ; but, despite time and change, that mighty fleet still dominates 




BRITISH BATTLESHIP MAJESTIC. 




FRENCH BATTLESHIP MAGENTA. 



58 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 



the seas. Its strength, on February 1, 1898, was 615 vessels — 61 of which 
were battleships, — carrying a total force of 110,050 officers and men. 

Colbert, when the Grand Monarch was at the zenith of his power, found 
France with a few old and rotten vessels, and left her with a noble fleet of 40 
ships of the line and 60 frigates, which, under D'Estree, Jean Bart, Tour- 
ville, and Duquesne, carried her flag to every sea. A state paper of the time 
gives the force at the beginning of this century as 61 ships of the line, 42 
corvettes, and a numerous, although unimportant, flotilla of small craft. With 
Aboukir and Trafalgar, the maritime power of France wasted away ; and, by 
the year 1839, there were afloat but three effective sail of the line. In 1840, 




GERMAN BATTLESHIP WOERTH. 



however, the revival began, and during the modern era the French fleet has, 
at times, been a formidable rival of that of England. It comprised, in 1898, 
446 vessels, including torpedo craft, 26 of the total being battleships. The 
force afloat numbered 70,925, of all ranks and ratings. 

Germany's navy is of modern creation. It began, a little less than half a 
century ago, with one sailing corvette and two gunboats ; and, in 1898, com- 
prised 13 battleships and 179 other vessels of all types, carrying 23,302 
officers and men. The fleet of united Italy had its inception, also, within the 
age of steam. It was on March 17, 1860, that Italian national life began 
with the ascension of the throne by Victor Emmanuel. From the beginning, 
the kingdom has been lavish with its fleet, its expenditures within the first 
six years reaching $60,000,000. In 1898 there were in the Italian navy 265 
vessels of all types, 17 of which were battleships. The force afloat was 
24,200, of all ranks and ratings. 



THE CENTURY'S NAVAL PROGRESS 



59 



The Crimean war found Russia but little advanced, either on the Black 
Sea or the Baltic, in the substitution of steam for sail. Since that time, how- 
ever, she has re-created her battle fleet, which is now especially strong in 
torpedo craft and cruisers of great steaming radius. Her navy, in 1898, com- 
prised 20 battleships and 263 other vessels, with a force of 32,477 officers and 
men. Japan began her fleet in 1866 with the purchase of an armor-clad from 
the United States. In 1898, she had a total of 145 vessels, built and build- 
ing — 8 of which were battleships — carrying 23,000 men of all ranks and 
ratings. 

Of minor navies little need be said. Austria had, in 1898, a fleet of 115 




ITALIAN BATTLESHIP SARDEGNA. 



vessels of all types, including 13 battleships and 79 torpedo craft. Holland's 
force was 185 vessels, 3 being battleships and 93 torpedo craft. The fleets of 
Turkey, Greece, Spain, and Portugal are " paper-navies " mainly. Norway 
and Sweden have a combined strength of 171 vessels of all types. Denmark, 
which began the century with overwhelming naval disaster at Copenhagen, 
has now a force of 3000 men borne on 50 vessels, half of which are torpedo 
craft. Argentina, Brazil, and Chili have afloat 102 torpedo vessels and 49 of 
other types. The vast growth in naval armaments during the century may be 
measured from the fact that the personnel of the leading navies of Europe, 
with those of Japan and the United States, comprised, in the year 1898, 
368,028 officers and men, with a total force of 2749 vessels of all types, 
including torpedo craft. 



60 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



III. THE BATTLESHIP, PAST AND PRESENT. 

In tracing the evolution of the modern man-of-war, it will be instructive to 
compare with her the type of the sailing age. There are two ships of the old 
time which hold chief places in the memory of the Anglo-Saxon race, — the 
Victory, Nelson's flagship at Trafalgar, and the Constitution, whose achieve- 
ments under Hull, Bainbridge, and Stewart, rang around the world. There 
were, even before the days of steam, war-vessels twice as large and powerful 
as " Old Ironsides," but over no sea, in any age, has there sailed a ship with 
a more gallant record. Plate I shows her as she was in her prime — before 
the wind, with all sail set. On Plate II there is given a side view of her 




NELSON'S FLAGSHIP VICTORY. 

hull, which is of historic interest, in that it is reproduced from the original 
drawing made in October, 1796. 

When her power and dimensions are compared with those of the Oregon, 
our sea-fighter of to-day, one sees what time has wrought. The frigate car- 
ried 456 men, the armor-clad, 500 ; and yet, with this approximately equal 
force, the Oregon has a displacement 6J times that of her famed prede- 
cessor; and although the number of the guns — 44 — is the same in each, she 
discharges a broadside 8.3 times heavier and in energy overwhelmingly 
superior. The speed of the battleship is one half greater than that of the 
Constitution, and she carries armor varying from 18 inches to 4 inches thick, 
which the frigate wholly lacked. The longitudinal section of the Oregon 
indicates the immense advance in other directions. Her hull is, for safety, 
minutely subdivided, and is provided with engines for propulsion, steering, 




1 './J 



62 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

lighting, drainage, and ventilation, numbering in all 84, with miles of piping 
and hundreds of valves. The time-honored frigate was but a sail-propelled 
gun-platform, whose wants were as few as her construction was simple ; the 
steel-clad battleship is a mass of mechanism, a floating machine-plant, which 
for full efficiency must be manned by a personnel not only brave and daring 
as of old, but expert in many arts and sciences, which in the age of sail were 
but rudimentary or unknown. 

IV. THE PROGRESS OF NAVAL ENGINEERING. 

" I have just read the project of Citizen Fulton, Engineer, which you have 
sent me much too late, since it is one which may change the face of the world." 

So, in the beginning of the century, wrote the first Napoleon from his 
Imperial camp at Boulogne. Wrapped in his day-dream of a descent upon 
the Thames, he saw, with prophetic vision, in the plans of the American 
engineer, the future of .navigation, and he strove to grasp — but too late — 
the opportunity which might have made his armada victorious over wind and 
tide. 

His words, however, rang truer than he knew. On the sea, as on the land, 
the engineer has indeed " changed the face of the world ; " and in no depart- 
ment of human progress has his influence been more radical or more far- 
reaching than in the mechanism, the scope, and the strategy of naval war. 
Fleets move now with a swiftness and surety unthought of in the days of 
sail. Over the same western ocean which Nelson, in his eager chase of Ville- 
neuve, crossed at but four knots an hour, the United States cruiser Columbia 
swept, ninety years later, at a speed nearly four and three quarters times that 
of his lagging craft. When, in 1898, war came, the great battleship Oregon, 
although far to the northward on our western coast, was needed in the distant 
battle-line off the Cuban shore. In 79 days she steamed 14,500 miles, mak- 
ing a run which is without parallel or approach by any warship of any navy 
in the world's history. The magnificent manhood, the unconquerable pluck, 
the engineering skill, which brought her just in time off Santiago, won their 
reward when the Colon struck her flag. Speed has been a determining factor 
in many a naval action. It was that which gave the power to take and hold 
the old-time " weather-gauge." None knew its value better than Nelson, the 
chief fighter of the age of sail. Once he said that there would be found, 
stamped upon his heart, " the want of frigates," the swift and nimble " eyes 
of the fleet " in his day. If his career in warfare on the sea had been a cen- 
tury later, he would be found foremost among the advocates of high-speed 
battleships and quick-firing guns. 

It is, however, not only in the speed of warships that steam and mechanism 
have revolutionized fleets. For example, the displacement of the battleship 
of to-day is fully three and one half times greater than that of her heaviest 
ancestor of the sailing age. With due limitation as to length of hull, it is 
evident that the wind would be, at best, a wholly inadequate and untrust- 
worthy motor for this huge structure with its great weight of armor. It is 
true that, during the era of transition, sail and steam were both applied to 
iron-clads — this absurdity reaching its climax in the British Agincourt and 
her sisters, which were 400 feet long, 10,600 tons' displacement, and were 
fitted with five masts. It is said that a merchant steamer narrowly escaped 



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64 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

collision at night with one of these vessels, believing from her length and 
rigging that there were two ships ahead, between which she could pass. What 
these large displacements mean, in contrast with those of past days, will be, 
perhaps, best illustrated by the statement that the Italia of 13,600 tons — 
a ship with which, in her day, Italy challenged the criticism of the world — 
carries on her deck a weight, in armor and armament, of 2500 tons, or one 
fourth more than that of Kelson's flagship Victory. 

Again, the largest naval gun in the year 1800 was one firing but a 42-pound 
shot, while in the United States navy we have now the 13-inch rifle of 60 
tons, with a projectile of 1100 pounds, and Great Britain has afloat 1800- 
pounder breech-loaders which weigh 111 tons. Before monster ordnance such 
as this, the strength of man, unaided, is but crude and futile. He must call to 
his help — as he has done — steam as the source of power for the electric, 
hydraulic, or pneumatic engines, which load, elevate, and train the gun. 

In summing up the service of steam, directly or indirectly, to the ship-of- 
war, it will be seen that the speed of the battleship has been increased by 
fully 50 per cent., and that of the cruiser has been doubled ; that the dis- 
placement of the battleship is now three and one half times that of her sail- 
ing predecessor ; and that, since the century's birth, the gun has grown to 
such extent that the projectile for the Oregon's main battery weighs 26 times 
that of the heaviest shot in the year 1800. This, however, is not all. Steam 
acts primarily, as well, to raise the anchor, to steer the ship, and to effect her 
lighting, heating, drainage, and ventilation. To the genius of James Watt 
there must be ascribed the possibility for the growth and change which have 
produced the modern man-of-war. 

Closely allied with mechanism in this evolution, has been the transformation 
of the structural material of the hull, which has passed from the hands of 
the shipwright in wood to the engineer who works with steel. The reasons 
for this are not far to seek. They lie, firstly, in the greater strength of 
the metal construction to withstand the vibration of swift and heavy ma- 
chinery, and the strains arising from the unequal distribution of massive 
weights in a hull which pitches or rolls with the waves. With wooden ships, 
the present proportions would have been unattainable. Again, there is a 
marked saving in the weight of the hull proper of the steel vessel, which is 
not only stronger but lighter. This weight in the days of timber averaged 
fully one half of the displacement ; while in the Oregon, whose tonnage, at 
normal draught, is 10,288, the hull percentage is 44.06, leaving a gain over 
the wooden vessel of 611 tons to be applied to armor, armament, or equip- 
ment. Finally, the durability of the metal vessel, with adequate care, greatly 
exceeds that of the wooden war steamer, whose average life was but 13 years. 

The creation of the steam machinery of navies has been the achieve- 
ment of the engineers of practically but three great nations. The daring of 
France, the inventive genius of America, and the wide experience and sound 
judgment of Great Britain, have united in this work. Our country has led 
time and again in the march of improvement ; although our progress has 
been fitful, since, more than a generation ago, we turned from the sea to the 
development of the internal resources of this continent. Limits of space per- 
mit but brief review of a history which has had its full share of triumphs, 
not only in battle, but over wave and wind. 




f 



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^u- 



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66 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



A contemporary authority states that, when British Admiral Sir John 
Borlase Warren ascended the Potomac River, during the war of 1812, his 
expedition was reconnoitred by an American steamer. This appears to be 
the first record of the use of such craft for military purposes. In 1814 the 
United States built the first steam war-vessel in the world's history. She 
was called the Demologos, later the Fulton, and her completion marked truly, 
as her commissioners said, " an era in warfare and the arts." She was a 
double-ended, twin-hulled floating battery of 2475 tons, carrying twenty 32- 
pdr. guns, protected by 4 ft. 10 in. of solid timber. She was driven by a sin- 
gle central paddle-wheel ; her speed was 5i miles per hour ; and she was 
both handy and seaworthy. France, in 1820, sent a commission to America 
to report upon steam vessels of war ; and in 1830 the French had nine armed 
steamers afloat and nine building. In 1821, the Comet, a small side-wheeler, 



■':''"■. ■• '.' 




ACTION BETWEEN MONITOR AND MERRIMAC. 



was commissioned as the first steam war-ship in the British navy, and in 
1840, at the bombardment of Acre, steam vessels fought their first battle. 

The growth of steam in navies had been retarded by its application solely 
to paddle craft, whose wheels and machinery were incapable of protection in 
action. During the years 1842-43, however, the United States built the sloop- 
of-war Princeton, of 954 tons. This vessel was the product of the genius of 
John Ericsson, the ablest marine engineer the world has ever seen. She was 
the first screw-propelled steam warship ever built, and, in other respects, fore- 
shadowed the advances which were to come. Thus, her machinery was the 
first to be placed wholly below the water-line beyond the reach of hostile 
shot ; her engine was the first to be coupled directly to the screw shaft, and 
blowers, for forced draft, were with her first used in naval practice. She 
was virtually the herald of the modern era. 

The Princeton was followed closely by the Rattler, the first screw vessel 
of the British fleet, and in 1843-44 the French 44-gun frigate Pomone was 
fitted with propellers. In 1843, also, the English Penelope was the first man- 
of-war to be equipped with tubular boilers, and the year 1845 was notable for 
the building of the ill-fated Birkenhead, the first iron vessel of the British 



THE CENTURY'S NAVAL PROGRESS 



67 



fleet. In 1850, when the French constructed the screw line-of-battle ship 
Napoleon, the English became alarmed, and began with vigor the renovation 
of their navy with regard to screw propulsion. 

France, in 1854, laid the keels of four armored batteries, three of which, 
forming the first ironclad squadron in history, went into action a year later 
under the forts of Kinburn in the Crimea. They were of 1600 tons' displace- 
ment, carried 4J inch armor and sixteen 68-pdr. guns, and had a speed of 
four knots. In 1862, Ericsson launched the famous Monitor, the first sea- 
going ironclad with a revolving turret, and an " engineers' ship " from keel 
to turret top. 

The Civil War found us with a sailing navy, and left us one of steam. 




THE TURRIXIA. 



Passing over its victories, in which steamers played always the chief part on 
sea and river, we come to that most notable triumph of Chief Engineer Isher- 
wood, the cruiser Wampanoag of 4200 tons' displacement. This vessel, 
phenomenal in her day, steamed in February, 1868, from Barnegat to Savan- 
nah, over a stormy sea, in 38 hours. Her average was 16.6 knots for the run, 
and 17 knots during a period of six consecutive hours — a speed which for 11 
years thereafter was unapproached by liner or by warship. In 1879, the British 
despatch vessel Mercury, of 3730 tons and 18.87 knots, wrested the palm from 
America; but, in 1893, it was won again for the United States by the triple- 
screw fliers Columbia and Minneapolis of 7475 tons, with speeds respectively 
of 22.8 and 23.073 knots. The laurels rest now with the Buenos Ayres, which, 




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THE CENTURY'S NAVAL PROGRESS 



69 



though built in England in 1895, flies the flag of Argentina. She has a ton- 
nage of 4500 and a speed of 23.202 knots. 

The British ironclad Pallas, completed in 1866, was remarkable for having 
the first successful naval engines on the compound principle, in which the 
steam is admitted at high pressure to a small cylinder, and passes thence to 
a larger one which it fills by its expansion. To Great Britain the world owes 
also the development of triple expansion, i. e., the use. of steam successively 
in three cylinders. This system was inaugurated in naval engines by the 
British, in 1885-86, and is now universally employed. Prior to 1879, the boil- 
ers of all modern war-vessels had been those of the Scotch type, in which 
the flame passes through tubes fixed in a cylindrical shell containing water. 
In that year, however, France began a revolution in the steam generators of 
navies by equipping a dispatch-vessel with the Belleville tubulous boiler, in 
which the water to be evaporated is contained within tubes surrounded by 
flame confined in an outer casing. The water-tube principle, also, bids fair to 




PLATE IV. ENGINE OF U. S. S. ERICSSON. 



become of universal application. It has had its most noteworthy naval 
installation in the British cruisers Powerful and Terrible, of 14,200 tons and 
25,886 horse-power, completed in 1895. 

The use of more than one screw for propulsion dates back to 1853. During 
our Civil War multiple screws figured, to a small extent, in the "tin clads " 
and larger monitors. The application of twin screws, in the modern era, 
begins with the British ironclad Penelope of 1868. France, in the years 1884- 
85, blazed the way for another naval advance of much importance in conduct- 
ing a series of trials with the launch Carpe, equipped with triple screws. The 
system, however, although of much value, from engineering and tactical points 
of view, was not adopted in large, high-powered vessels until the advent of the 
French armored cruiser Dupuy de Lome in 1890, and the protected cruisers 
Columbia and Minneapolis of the United States navy in 1893. It has now 
won full approval in the navies of continental Europe, and triple-screw ships, 
aggregating 500,000 tons, are built or building there. 

The limits of space forbid more than a passing note of the triumphs of the 
engineer in torpedo craft, the light cavalry of the sea. With steamers of nor- 
mal proportions, the speed and power depend largely upon, and increase with, 
the displacement. As has been stated, the maximum performance of large 
cruisers is now 23 knots on a tonnage of 4500. These particulars give a faint 
glimpse of the extraordinary problem which has confronted the torpedo-boat 



70 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

designer in driving hulls of, at present, about 150 tons at a speed which now 
approximates to 30 knots. With the brilliant record of success in this task, 
there will be linked always the names of Yarrow and Thornycroft in England, 
of Schichau in Germany, and of Normand in France. The achievement but 
recently of a British inventor, the Hon. Charles Algernon Parsons, in giving 
the Turbinia of 44.5 tons a speed of over 31 knots, has drawn the attention 
of engineers the world over to the possibilities of the steam turbine on the 
sea. This performance is phenomenal with such a displacement. The French 
Forban, of 130 tons, has made 31.2 knots, and a reported speed of 35 knots 
gives a Schichau boat her temporary laurels as the fastest craft afloat. 

A brief glance at the improvements which have made possible these extreme 
speeds in cruisers and torpedo craft will be of interest. The progress which 
has been made has been, firstly, in the economy in the use of steam arising 
from higher pressures and multiple expansion ; secondly, in the reduction of 
weight, per horse power, due to increase in strength of materials and in 
engine-speed with the employment of forced draft — which was reintroduced 
by France — and the water-tube boiler ; and, finally, in the application of a 
more efficient propelling instrument. The advances of half a century in pro- 
pelling machinery are shown, in some respects, by Plates III and IV, which 
contrast, on the same scale, the side-wheel machinery of the United States 
war-steamer Powhatan, of 1849, with the engines of the United States tor- 
pedo boat Ericsson of to-day. The data of the former vessel are : horse- 
power, 1172 ; steam pressure 15 lbs.; weight of machinery per horse-power 
972 lbs.; while, for the Ericsson, the figures are : horse-power, 1800 ; steam 
pressure, 250 lbs. ; weight of machinery per horse-power, 56 lbs. This com- 
parison, however, must be qualified by the statement that the older engine 
was for a steamer of about 3760 tons, while the torpedo boat is but 120 tons 
in displacement. The contrast lies, therefore, only in the reduced weight of 
material per horse-power developed and in the increased steam pressure, 
which, however, are in themselves most striking. 

V. THE GROWTH OF ORDNANCE. 

At Trafalgar, the Victory drifted before the wind into action. In her slow 
advance, at a speed of one and one half knots through but 1200 yards, she 
was for half an hour under the prolonged fire of 200 guns, and yet she closed, 
practically unhurt, with her foes, and lived, not only to win the day, but to 
bring undying glory to the English flag. What a contrast the latest sea-fight 
of the century presents in the power of modern ordnance as compared with 
the puny guns of Nelson's time ! Our battleship Oregon, at a range of nearly 
five miles, with one 1100-pound shell, drove the Colon, an armored cruiser, not 
only shoreward, but to surrender, stranding, and wreck. 

The largest naval guns in the year 1800 were the long 32 and 42-pounders, 
smooth-bore muzzle-loaders, with a range of about 1200 yards. Carronades 
— short pieces with a heavy shot but limited range — found favor also, 
especially with British sailors, eager for that close-quarter fighting in which 
the " Smasher" — as General Melville called his carronade — would be most 
effective in shattering timbers and in sending clouds of splinters among the 
foe. The projectiles were spherical shot, canister, and grape, the diabolical 
shriek of the shell being yet unheard. Both gun and shot were of cast metal, 



72 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

and the mount was a wooden carriage on low trucks. The training, or hori- 
zontal angle of the gun, was effected by rope tackles, and the amount of ele- 
vation of its muzzle depended upon the position of a "quoin," or wooden 
wedge, thrust beneath the breech. The recoil was limited by rope "breech- 
ing/' passing through the cascabel, — a knob behind the breech, — and secured 
to ring-bolts in the ship's side. The gun was harnessed, as a horse is, in the 
shafts. 

Aiming was largely a perfunctory process, since the gun had no sights and 
the shot had excessive " windage," its calibre being from one fifth to one third 
inch less than the bore, making its outward passage a series of rebounds and 
its final direction a matter of chance. "Windage," however, was essential to 
facilitate muzzle-loading and to provide for the expanded diameter of red-hot 
shot. It is true that in 1801 a proposition to use sights was made to Lord 
Nelson. He, however, rejected it with the words : — 

" I hope we shall be able, as usual, to get so close to our enemies that our 
shot cannot miss the object." 

His blind courage in this cost his countrymen dearly when, in 1812-14, their 
shot flew wild, while their ships were hulled and their gallant tars fell before 
the then sighted guns of the United States. 

To ignite the charge the slow-match was still used, as is shown by the 
sharp words of a sailor of that time. Hailed in the darkness by a British 
ship and ordered to send a boat, his quick answer was : — 

" This is the United States frigate Constitution, Edward Preble, commodore, 
commanding, and I '11 be d — d if I send a boat ! " 

Then to his men, silent and eager by the shrouded battle-lanterns : — 

" Blow your matches, boys ! " 

A full crew for a 32-pounder consisted of 14 men. An old rule as to this 
was one man to every 500-lbs. weight of the gun, which would give the Ore- 
gon 1100 men to handle the four 13-inch rifles of her main battery, or more 
than twice her whole crew. Steam and mechanism have wrought a magic 
change in this. 

The slow-match remained in use until well into the nineteenth century, 
although, until 1842, the flint lock was generally employed in the British 
navy, having replaced the priming horn and match in 1780. In 1807 there 
was discovered a composition which could be ignited by friction or concussion, 
and in 1839 the French had adopted the percussion lock, which exploded the 
cap and retracted, uncovering the vent before the backward rush of the gas 
could strike it. Later, a similar composition was used with "friction-primers," 
or tubes filled with mealed powder and capped with composition, the tube 
forming a train leading to the charge, and the composition being fired by the 
friction of a rough wire drawn briskly through it. Percussion and friction 
have been in turn largely displaced by the electric primer, which consists 
essentially of a fine wire, or " bridge," passing through a highly inflammable 
mixture. The bridge offers a resistance to the electric current, is heated 
thereby, ignites the composition, and fires the gun. 

The older type of the cast-iron smooth-bore gun for solid shot reached its 
ultimate development in the 68-pounder, which endured until the advent of 
armor. In 1819 the system of firing shells loaded with gunpowder from 
smooth-bore guns was suggested by General Paixhans, of France. In 1824, it 



32pd' t>rn Smooth- ivne ftluiile- loader 
Uitrghl-ibOOlito triuillt Energy 642 taction^ 




U S(Dahlgren) 4-40pdr 15 in Smooth-bore ,Tttu2ite-loader 
Weight 42.OO0 lbs muzzle energy. 7273 foot-tons 




/ tntmn (Qrmstron02OOO pdr /7m. tti/te, Breech -leader 
Weight /0I.5 Cons t Ttluzlle Energy, 5/930 Fool-ton* 



zs 



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(IS Tlaval 1100 pdr /3in fi/le , Breech-loader 
Weight bOtons. 7Tluzzte Energy . 33627 root-tons 



The Growth of Ordnance 



PLATE V. 



74 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

was introduced into the French navy, and about 1840 into that of the United 
States. At Sin ope, in 1853, the terrible effect of shell fire upon wooden ships 
startled the world, when a Russian fleet destroyed absolutely 11 Turkish ves- 
sels, with their force of 4000 men. The Paixhans gun was modified and its 
form improved by Admiral Dahlgren, U. S. N., and in the late 50's the arma- 
ment — designed by him — of United States vessels was superior to that of 
any other in the world. The 9, 11, and 15-inch Dahlgrens formed the bulk of 
our guns afloat during the Civil War, the remainder being almost wholly rifles 
of the Parrott type. 

The resistance which spherical projectiles met from the air, their deviation 
in flight, owing to the frequent lack of coincidence of the centres of gravity 
and form, their excessive " windage," and their light weight relatively to cali- 
bre, led to the adoption of the rifled gun and the cylindrical projectile. The 
principle of the former — making the shot act as a screw-bolt and the bore as 
a screw-thread — is very old, there being at Woolwich a barrel of this type 
bearing date of 1547. The objects aimed at in rifling are to give a pointed 
cylindrical shot rotation on its axis that it may keep steady during flight, 
and secondly, to obtain increased weight in the projectile from its elongated 
form. As to the latter consideration, it may be noted that the old 32-pounder 
smooth-bore was of 6-inch calibre, while the United States 6-inch rifle of 
to-day throws a shot of 100 lbs. weight. 

France, during the Crimean War, brought out the first heavy rifled gun. 
In 1860-61, Armstrong rifles were introduced in the British navy. The labors 
of Krupp met such success that at Paris, in 1867, he exhibited a rifle weighing 
50 tons with a projectile of 1080 pounds. The Parrott rifle was brought out 
about 1856 in the United States, and was so developed that in 1862 it was the 
most powerful gun, for its weight and size, in existence. The adoption of 
rifling was the first great step on the road which engineering had laid toward 
the growth in power of modern ordnance. 

Having thus secured a projectile of great weight and moderate calibre 
which would bore through the air a true path to the distant mark, there 
remained to seek but four chief elements in the magnificent advance made 
within a generation by the naval artillery of our day. These factors were : 
1st. Increased strength in the material of the gun. 2d. A method of con- 
struction which would not only permit enormous pressures in the powder- 
chamber, but would make possible the continuous acceleration of the projectile 
during its passage through the bore. 3d. An explosive which would satisfy 
the objects of the method of construction ; and, 4th. A system of loading 
which would enable guns of great length to be charged with ease. The 
mounting of ordnance of any weight, its control, and its rapid and facile 
handling were but minor matters of engineering. 

In a paper such as this, of limited length and addressed to laymen, it is 
possible to give but a glance at the progress in the various elements of gun- 
construction which have been noted. Of material, little need be said. The 
rifle of Crimean days was a cast-iron piece ; Parrott ordnance was of cast and 
wrought iron ; and the first Armstrong gun was built of wrought iron and 
steel. Cast and compound materials, however, have vanished with the past. 
Steel — hardened and toughened to the last degree by ever}*- refinement of 
manufacture — forms the " reeking tube " for the " iron shard " of the cen- 
tury's close. 



THE CENTURY'S NAVAL PROGRESS 75 

The method of construction is the " built-up " process, shown by the partial 
section on Plate V., the barrel being reinforced by tubes which are shrunk on 
— like the tire of a wagon-wheel — so as to produce initial compression. The 
explosion in the powder chamber strains and expands temporarily the barrel, 
and the application of the shrinkage principle enables a portion of the 
strength of the tubes to be employed in preliminary internal pressure. The 
barrel thus supported can be strained by the charge, not only to its own limit 
of safety, but to an additional amount equal to this initial compression. The 
all-steel, built-up gun has a possible rival in wire-wound ordnance, a system 
which replaces the tubes, to a greater or less extent, by layers of wire, wound 
while in tension around the barrel. 

Powder is the soul of the gun ; it transforms the huge inert mass into a 
flaming engine of death. The great development of explosives began but a 
generation since. The researches of Pobins and Pumford in the last century, 
and of Hutton in the dawn of this, formed the world's knowledge of the gun's 
internal ballistics until the year 1870. To the genius of Noble and Abel is 
due the stimulus to growth since then. The powders have kept pace with 
gun-construction in its advance. The increased strength of the chamber has 
been met by heavier and slow-burning charges — cocoa, brown prismatic, and 
the like — which have given not only greater initial velocity, but a continuous 
acceleration through bores whose maximum length has exceeded 47 feet. 
Indeed, to the production of this lingering combustion is due the great linear 
dimension and power of modern guns. Initial pressure had its limit ; advance 
lay only in the subsequent acceleration given by late ignition of a portion 
of the charge. 

Gunpowder, however, after a reign of more than five hundred years, has been 
dethroned. The " villainous saltpetre " of the monk, with its allies, charcoal 
and sulphur, yields now to nitro compounds, which produce not only far 
greater energy, but are as well smokeless. The sea-fights of our war with 
Spain saw the last contending fleets to be wrapped in a cloud, lingering and 
baffling, of their own making. Cordite, one of these compounds in use abroad, 
is prepared in long " cords " from di-nitro-cellulose and nitro-glycerine. The 
new smokeless "powder" of the United States navy is made from nitro- 
cellulose dissolved in ether alcohol. France was the first in employing 
explosives such as these, which, in their offensive and tactical advantages, 
form one of the signal triumphs of the century's last years. 

The long gun of modern days is of necessity breech-loading. The develop- 
ment of other elements gave, as a resultant, great length ; and this, in turn, 
required a system of charging which would permit protection for the men 
while loading, and would obviate the intolerable inconvenience of ramming 
home powder and shot in a long muzzle-loader — an operation which was, in 
fact, impossible beyond a certain limit of length. The advocates of the older 
construction, especially in England, urged long and earnestly its simplicity 
and the superior strength of a solid breech ; but the logic of events was 
against them, and the breech-loader won a complete triumph. It is worthy 
of note that it, like rifling and the principle of building up, was but a revival. 
From the warship Mary Pose, sunk in 1545 in action off Spithead, there were 
recovered in 1836 a number of guns, some of which are of wrought iron, 
built-up and breech-loading. There are in use two methods of closing the 



76 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

breech when the gun is loaded from the rear. In French, English, and 
American ordnance an axial screw-plug is inserted ; in the Krupp system a 
cylindro-prismatic breech-block slides in a horizontal opening cut across the 
bore. The former, or interrupted screw mechanism, was first set forth in the 
United States' patent of 1849 to Chambers. 

In projectiles the tendency of the modern era has been towards simplifica- 
tion. Bar-shot, chain-shot, and grape have disappeared, while canister and 
solid shot are becoming obsolete. There remain shrapnel as the " man- 
killer " of this age, and explosive shell, differentiated into armor-piercing and 
that for attack on unarmored structures. Lieutenant Shrapnel, in 1796, in- 
vented the projectile which bears his name. In its modern form, it consists 
of a steel case containing lead or iron balls and a light bursting charge of 
powder, ignited by a time-fuse carried in the head. This projectile is most 
formidable against bodies of men, boats, and the embrasures of forts, since, 
when it is ruptured, the balls are dispersed, covering a wide area. 

The use of explosive shell in high-angle discharge dates back to the fifteenth 
century. From Paixhans' works,, " La Nouvelle Arme," published in 1821, 
came the stimulus to its development and to its deadly service, in our time, 
in horizontal fire. The " common shell " for the United States 13-inch rifle 
is made of forged steel, weighs 1100 pounds, and carries within it a bursting 
charge of 50 pounds of powder, ignited by a percussion fuse set in its base. 
It will penetrate 6 or 7 inches of armor and then explode within the ship. 
The United States " armor-piercing shell " is manufactured from crucible steel, 
alloyed with chromium ; it is tempered to extreme hardness at the point, 
which carries a cap of soft metal. The function of the latter would appear 
to be that of a support to the shoulder of the projectile, or as a lubricant 
thereto, since, without the cap, the shell is broken or deformed in the attack 
on armor of surface hardened steel. To resist the crushing strain in its pass- 
age through massive plate, the walls of this shell must be so thick that no 
charge of gunpowder will burst it. Hence, as a rule, the shell is fired 
unloaded, although recently there have been adopted to some extent burst- 
ing charges of some high explosive, such as gun-cotton, joveite, or picric 
acid. 

In closing this brief review of the progress of ordnance, but passing men- 
tion can be made of matters minor, but in themselves of much importance. 
Gun carriages, or mounts, are now intricate mechanisms, practically the whole 
service of large ordnance being performed by electric and hydraulic machin- 
ery. The rapid fire principle has been extended to pieces of 6-inch calibre, 
and bids fair to pass beyond that limit. Its success in increasing largely the 
number of shots within a given time lies in special breech-blocks, aiming de- 
vices, and prepared cartridges. Machine guns of rifle-calibre, partly or wholly 
automatic, have been so developed as to be capable of firing 1200 rounds per 
minute. The discharge of high explosives in large quantity was effected 
with success by the United States steamer Vesuvius off Santiago. The 
torpedo-gun afloat, however, would appear to be still in a tentative con- 
dition. 

A brief lapse into technical terms may be permitted in summarizing the 
gun's growth in power. The term " muzzle energy " is used to describe the 
work which the projectile is capable of performing when it leaves the bore. 



THE CENTURY'S NAVAL PROGRESS 77 

It is expressed in foot-tons, i. e., the number of tons which the energy stored 
in the shot would lift to a height of one foot. The figures as to this for the 
32-pounder of the century's beginning, for the United States 13-inch rifle and 
for the 111-ton English gun, are, respectively, 642, 33,627, and 51,690 foot- 
tons. Again, the round shot from the 32-pounder lost from the resistance of 
the air, in a range of 1200 yards, 76 per cent of its energy ; while this loss, 
with the United States 13-inch, in a range of 1000 yards, is but 11 per cent. 
Finally, if the cast-iron shot of the 32-pounder were fired against armor-plate, 
it would lose, in breaking itself up, two thirds of its remaining energy, leaving 
at 1200 yards but 51 foot-tons for effective work ; while with the modern 
armor-piercing shell the entire energy left at the end of the range is expended 
upon the armor-plate. 

It will be seen then that the immeasurable superiority of modern guns is 
owing both to their great increase in energy and to their wiser disposition of 
that which has been attained. The gun has maintained fully during the cen- 
tury its primacy among naval weapons. It is true that, in theory and on 
paper, its supremacy has at times been questioned ; but as to its two rivals, 
the ram would seem to be rather the weapon of accident than action, and the 
torpedo has yet to score in battle against ships in motion, while the precision, 
rapidity, and power of the gun grow more deadly with every passing year. 

VI. THE DEVELOPMENT OF ARMOR. 

Armor and the gun are natural and now hereditary foes. The function of 
the one is to resist, that of the other ever to attack. Since the beginning of 
the modern era in navies, there has been ceaseless strife for mastery be- 
tween these two elements of warship design, the gun ever becoming more 
powerful, and the armor — at first through growing thickness and later 
through improved material — opposing a steadily more stubborn front. 
The official report of an English committee made in the year 1860 states 
that, — 

" Vessels clothed in rolled-iron plates of four and a half inches' thickness 
are to all practicable purposes invulnerable against any projectile that can be 
brought to bear against them at any range." 

The advance which forty years have seen maybe shown by the single state- 
ment that the Krupp 15.7-inch gun develops sufficient energy to penetrate at 
the muzzle 47 inches of wrought iron. The battleship is at best but a series 
of compromises, each factor of the structure yielding or growing as the skill 
or whim of her designer may indicate. In the present stage of this unceas- 
ing change, the gun would appear to be the victor, and the power of this 
mighty 132-ton rifle seems scarcely needed on the sea. The distinguished 
chief of ordnance of the United States navy, in his annual report for 1898, 
says : — 

"The development of the 12-inch gun has been so great and its power 
so much increased that the Bureau is of opinion that hereafter it will be 
the maximum calibre that it will be advisable to install on future battle- 
ships." 

With armor, as with the torpedo, the talent of Europe reaped where the 
genius of America had sown. John Stevens of New Jersey was the first 
inventor of modern times to suggest the application of armor to a floating 



1859 



Warrior- 



+.S 



D 



9200 




Tn-iTtotaur 



1861 



ss 




1866 



TftoTtarvh. 



8 3ZO 



&33p — 



867 



Qudactoia 




1869 



Devastation, 



/2" 



r jBbAi^ 




Q lexandya. 



1873 




PLATE VI. THE DISTRIBUTION OF ARMOR. 



1874 



Inflexible, 



g=^ 




T ^ 



m 




//eao 



1880 

9SOO ~,/ 






886 




Trafalgar 



Roy at Souereii/n 



890 



.'* _ .&' 




/4 /^O 




i« I JJ IH I f l|i;il ^ Mfi ll l l HH ll ]j l!l ...ilililii.HI L 



894 



fttaoesftc 




897 




PLATE VII. THE DISTRIBUTION OP ARMOR. 



80 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

battery, his plans being submitted to the United States government during the 
war of 1812. They received, however, no serious consideration, and to France, 
forty-two years later, fell the honor of attaining the first practical results in 
the building of ironclads. Members of the Stevens family, however, continued 
the experiments of its founder, until by the year 1841 they had determined 
the thickness of iron necessary to stop spherical projectiles at point blank 
range, and the comparative resisting powers of iron and oak. These results 
led to an appropriation by Congress, in 1854, of $500,000 to begin work upon 
an ironclad, — the Stevens battery, — which vessel, however, never left the 
ways and was eventually broken up. 

General Paixhans, who revolutionized naval artillery by the invention of 
the modern shell, prophesied, in an official letter to the French government in 
1824, that the new projectile would force the creation of armored ships. In 
1841 he recommended officially the clothing of vessels with iron armor, as a 
protection against his own missiles ; and v in 1853 his words of warning met 
complete and terrible fulfillment in the annihilation by shell guns of the 
Turkish fleet at Sinope. This action was the immediate cause of the intro- 
duction of armor in modern navies. , 

The British admiralty, in 1843, had duplicated the Stevens experiments, 
using a target of 14 plates of boiler iron riveted together, which gave a total 
thickness of 6 inches ; and experiments on laminated plating had been also at 
this time carried on at Gavres, in France. In 1845 Dupuy de Lome, the 
famous naval architect, submitted to the French government the first 
European design for an armored frigate. His plans were, however, rejected; 
and only with the outbreak of the Crimean War was the construction of 
armored vessels begun. On October 17, 1855, the three French batteries 
which were the first results of this new departure went into action off Kin- 
burn, in the Crimea, silencing in four hours forts which had held at bay the 
combined fleets of England and France. Armor had won its first victory, and 
had shown most signally its position as one of the main factors in*the warship 
design of the years which were to come. 

These vessels, with three similar batteries constructed immediately there- 
after by the British government, were clad with solid iron plates 4^ inches 
thick, backed by 27£ inches of oak, comparative experiments at Vincennes, 
France, having shown the marked superiority of solid over laminated plating. 
They were, however, in but a most limited sense sea-going ships, their low 
speed and other inferior qualities being radical defects as to this. France led 
in a further advance, beginning in 1857 and completing in 1859 the transform- 
ation of the wooden line-of-battle ship Napoleon into the armored vessel of 
5000 tons, which, as La Gloire, is famous as the first sea-going ironclad. She 
carried a strake of 4f-inch plating at the water line, and 4^-ineh plates in 
wake of the battery. England answered the challenge of her hereditary foe 
with the Warrior, an iron vessel of 9210 tons, completed in 1861. While her 
rival had a fully armored side, but 212 of the Warrior's 380 feet of length 
carried plating. Its thickness was 4£ inches. 

At the outbreak of the Civil War in the United States, the government 
appointed a special naval committee to report upon types of ironclads. The 
conclusions of this board are of interest, in showing the state of armor 
development at that period. They required rolled armor of solid iron, whose 






Z.a CHoire' (France) 1857 
Side <Armor Iron-^j m. Solid. 




'Warrior-: (England) 1859 
Side Jlrmor Iron 4jin Sol±d. 



y^Z~3m 




Side Armor 
lron.3 to 5 in. Laminated. 



V. S. Monitor 'Pas$aic',/86Z. Turret Armor 

Iron 11 in Laminated 




inflexible (England) 1876 
Pell & Citadel * mor Iron ■ Sandivtched 




'Diulio , dtuly ) 1876 
BeltArmor Steel Solid 





Belt Armor U S Battleship Oregon' 13m Turret Armor**. 

Harveyed A/lckel Steel. Solid Harueyed Nickel Steel Solid 



PLATE VTII. THE GROWTH OP ARMOR. 



82 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

minimum thickness was 4£ inches. Ericsson's Monitor, however, carried 
laminated plating from 3 to 5 inches thick on her low sides, and 11 layers, 
each one inch thick, on her turret. This construction, which the difficulties 
in the manufacture of solid plate necessitated, made the record of endurance 
of this type far from good. The defect lay mainly with fastening bolts, 
which broke frequently, thus loosening or detaching the side armor, and the 
heads or nuts of which, flying off with violence when the armor was struck by 
shot, became sometimes fatal missiles against those within the turrets. In con- 
trast with this, the behavior of the New Ironsides, clothed with solid armor, 
was most excellent. She was a casemated ironclad frigate with unarmored 
ends, her plating was 4| inches thick, and inclined throughout the citadel, at 
an angle of 30° from the perpendicular. For two years she was subjected to 
the most severe test that a war-vessel must meet, the tossing and straining of 
blockade duty and the fiery ordeal of close action with fortifications. In one 
engagement, she sustained alone a fight against the combined fire of the forts 
in Charleston harbor, and, although struck on her side-armor sixty times, 
came out of the struggle unhurt. The record of this ship is one which does 
honor to the flag. 

The achievement of the Confederacy during this war, in the matter of 
armor, was remarkable. With iron worth almost its weight in gold, and with 
most limited facilities for manufacturing, they yet succeeded in constructing 
some of the most formidable ironclads of their day. The Merrimac, for 
instance — with 3-inch armor, in two layers of narrow bars, at an angle of 
30° with the horizontal — sustained no material damage to her plating from 
the fire of the Monitor ; although had the full charge of 30 lbs. of powder 
been used in the 11-inch smooth-bores of the latter, the story would have 
been different. Every fair blow would have smashed a hole completely 
through the armor, and driven a shower of splinters about the battery-deck. 
Again, the armor of the Atlanta and the Tennessee — both casemated ships, 
with the sides of the citadel inclined at a sharp angle to the horizontal — was 
sufficiently strong, with the former vessel, to withstand, at 500 yards, the 
11-inch projectile fired with a 20-lbs. charge, and, with the latter, the same 
shot practically at the muzzle, although the 15-inch projectile broke through 
completely in both cases. 

It is unnecessary to follow in detail, through its many tests in peace, the 
advance of iron armor. Its growth in strength, as the power of the gun 
developed, came almost solely from increase in thickness, the latter reaching 
its maximum with the British Inflexible, completed in 1876, which carries 
from 16 to 24 inches of iron on her. belt and citadel. This plating, how- 
ever, is divided and " sandwiched " with wood, there being, exterior to the 
skin, 6 inches of teak, then 12 inches iron, 11 inches teak, and an outer 12- 
inch plate. As armor, iron received its death-blow in the famous tests at 
Spezia, Italy, during the autumn of 1876, when the 100-ton gun, with a full 
charge, at a range of 100 yards, attacked solid and " sandwich " targets of 
iron and solid targets of steel — the single or aggregate thickness of metal 
in each case being 22 inches. These trials were undertaken through Italy's- 
desire to build, in the Duilio and Dandolo, the most formidable vessels afloat. 
Steel won the day, and the roar of that mighty gun, thundering from the 
Spezia firing ground, sounded the knell of iron armor, deprived the as yet 



THE CENTURY'S NAVAL PROGRESS 83 

unlaunched Inflexible of her crown of invulnerability, and demanded, with 
success, a revolution in the armor manufacture of Europe. 

As a compromise, compound armor, i, e., iron faced with steel, became pop- 
ular for a time. As with steel, its beginnings were old, dating back at least 
to the year 1857. The first perfected compound plate, made by Cammel & 
Co., of England, was tested at Shoeburyness in 1877. It was composed of 
5 inches of iron with a 4-inch face of steel ; the iron being raised to a welding 
heat and the molten steel poured on its top. The great heat partially fused 
the contact face, the two metals were united, and the combination was assured 
by immediate rolling. Compound plates sprang in 1877 from obscurity to 
popularity ; by 1879 iron armor had become obsolete with progressive naval 
powers, and, in 1880, both compound and steel plates had reached such devel- 
opment that they were close rivals, the leading competitors being Cammel in 
England and Schneider in France. Steel, however, slowly forged ahead dur- 
ing the next decade ; and, at its close, compound armor was practically out of 
the race. In steel's victory, its alloy with nickel, in minute proportions, has 
materially aided ; the combination imparting hardness without decreasing the 
toughness of the plate. This material gave superior results from the begin- 
ning. Its first plate, tested in 1889, was 9£ inches thick ; it was pierced by 
a Holtzer shell, whose body did not pass wholly through and whose energy 
was 1.6 times that just necessary to perforate a wrought-iron plate of the 
same thickness. To the increased strength given by nickel there has been 
added a further gain through the application of face-hardening processes — 
such as that of the American, Harvey — which produce superficial carboniza- 
tion, transforming the surface into a high grade of very hard steel, without 
the pronounced plane of demarcation between the two qualities of metal, as 
in the weld of the compound plate. A 10^-inch nickel steel Harveyized plate, 
tested at the Indian Head Proving Grounds in 1892, showed a strength which 
previously had never been equaled in the history of armor, and established 
beyond question the value of the face-hardening process, which, by various 
methods, is applied to the nickel-steel plating of to-day. The distribution of 
armor in the development of battleship construction is shown by the shaded 
sections on Plates VI and VII, and its relative thicknesses, on various vessels 
during this progress, by Plate VIII. 

VII. THE RAM AND THE TORPEDO. 

For two thousand years the ram — the razor-edged " beak " of the swift galley 
— was the chief naval weapon. With the advent of sail-power and the employ- 
ment of gunpowder, it vanished from the seas ; but to reappear when the 
coming of steam gave again controllable propulsion. In 1859 there was built 
into the French frigate Magenta a sharp spur, — the first modern ram. British 
construction of the modern era, from the Warrior down, has also recognized 
this weapon, and it is to-day a factor, although a minor one, in the design of 
all vessels of high speed. 

The ram has, however, but a scant record of service in action, while in acci- 
dental collision it has wrought more than once appalling disaster. The iron- 
clad Merrimac rammed and sank in Hampton Koads, in March, 1862, the 
United States sailing sloop-of-war Cumberland, which, under the gallant 
Morris, went down with guns thundering and ensign flying. On July 20, 



84 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

1866, during the action off the island of Lissa, in the Adriatic, the Austrian 
flagship Ferdinand Maximilian rammed the Italian armorclad Re d' Italia, 
which, with many of her 800 men, sank with a swiftness that chilled the blood 
of those who watched. Like this, in its sudden tragedy, was the destruction 
of the British battleship Victoria by her consort, the Camperdown, off Tripoli, 
Syria, in the summer sunlight of a June day in 1893. The ram of the latter 
vessel cut a deep and fatal gash in the Victoria, which within ten minutes 
turned bottom upward and went down, bow first, bearing with her 321 officers 
and men, whose unfaltering discipline gave a heroic splendor to their end. 
Despite these occasional instances of its deadly power, the ram holds a second- 
ary place among naval weapons. To strike a modern vessel at high speed 
will require more than the skill of the swordsman. 

The torpedo, like the ironclad, was an American invention, whose neglect 
by the United States government brought retribution when this deadly engine 
of war in 1861-65 destroyed not a few war-vessels flying our flag. Bushnell 
of Connecticut during the Revolution appears to have invented both the sub- 
marine boat and the marine torpedo, the latter being fired by clock-work. 
Fulton also met success in similar work during the period extending from 
1801 to 1812. All of the elements of modern torpedo warfare, excepting 
the use of steam, compressed air, or electricity as a motive power, had 
been thus conceived by the early dawn of this century. The torpedoes of 
our day are practically of but two classes : the " mine," or stationary (either 
"buoyant" or "ground," as its position in the water determines), and the 
automobile, or " fish " torpedo. The former type is fired either by closing 
an electric circuit in a station on shore, or by the ship herself in contact, or 
in electric closure. During the Civil War nearly thirty vessels were sunk by 
mines, usually wooden barrels filled with gunpowder and fired by hauling 
lines or slow-burning fuses. It was a mine-field over which Farragut 
charged at Mobile Bay, when he uttered his famous oath and went "full 
speed ahead," with the cases of the fortunately impotent torpedoes striking 
the Hartford's bottom ; it was a mine which, it is claimed, sunk the Maine ; 
and it was a mine-field which kept Sampson's battleships from entering the 
harbor of Santiago de Cuba. The stationary torpedo is now charged with 
gun cotton or other high explosive. 

The origin of the most prominent of the automobile torpedoes is due to 
Captain'Lupuis of the Austrian navy, and its development from 1864 onward 
to Whitehead, an Englishman. It is a cigar-shaped submarine vessel from 
14 to 19 inches maximum diameter and from 14 to 19 feet long, which is 
blown from a torpedo-tube or gun within the ship by compressed air or 
an impulse charge of gunpowder. Twin-screw engines contained within 
its hull, and driven by compressed air stored in a reservoir therein, drive 
it at about thirty knots speed through an effective range of 600 yards. 
In its nose or "war-head" there is carried a large charge of gun cotton 
or other high explosive, which is fired by contact with the enemy's hull. 
It is provided with both horizontal and vertical rudders, the depth of im- 
mersion being regulated by intricate machinery contained in the "balance- 
chamber." The Whitehead has a somewhat formidable rival in the United 
States in the torpedo invented by Rear Admiral Howell, U. S. 1ST. The 
automobile torpedo has never yet scored in battle against ships in motion. 



THE CENTURY'S NAVAL PROGRESS 85 

Its position in the naval warfare of the future is yet unfixed. The one cer- 
tainty is, that its blow when struck home is almost surely fatal to ship and 
crew. The development of the submarine torpedo-boat, whose weapon is the 
Whitehead, has in recent years received much attention through the labors of 
the American Holland and others. France, in the Gustavus Zede, of 260 
tons, has a diving boat of this character, for which much is claimed. 

VIII. THE UNITED STATES FLEET. 

Until the advent of the ironclad, the ships of the United States were equal, 
if not superior, in seaworthiness and fighting qualities to any in the world. 
The high standard set by the Constitution and her class of 1797 was main- 
tained for sixty years ; and, especially during the period from 1840 to 1860, 
the officers and men of the United States navy trod the decks of the finest 
ships afloat. They felt — as their successors feel — that, ton for ton and gun 
for gun, they had no foe to fear. The early steamers of the Powhatan class 
built in the late 40's were a credit to the nation ; the five screw frigates of 
the Merrimac type (1856-57) aroused the admiration and imitation of foreign 
experts, and the five corvettes which followed them in 1858-59-60, of which 
the noble Hartford was the chief, bore their full share in the war which was 
so soon to come. The gallant Kearsarge was the leader of a new class intro- 
duced in 1859. 

During the Civil War two vessels, the Monitor and the New Ironsides, 
appeared which have left lasting traces on all battleship construction since 
their day. The great fleet of monitors, "tin-clads," "90-day gunboats," 
" double-enders," and the like, which preceded and followed them during 
those dark years, served their country well. With the ending of that war, 
in the internal task of reconstruction and development, our maritime power 
was neglected and our fleet dwindled away. Its renaissance dates from 
the appointment of the first Naval Advisory Board in June, 1881. The 
growth since then has been so much a matter of national interest and pride 
that it needs no detailed recounting here ; its results have been summarized 
previously herein. 

The sea-going personnel of the United States navy includes the line, med- 
ical, pay, and marine officers, the chaplains and warrant officers — a total on 
March 1, 1899, of 1589, with an enlisted force of 17,196 blue-jackets and 
3166 marines. The officers who serve on shore are the naval constructors, 
civil engineers, and the professors of mathematics, a total of 69. 

Line officers are the commanders, navigators, gunners, and, by recent 
law, the engineers of our ships of war. Marine officers have charge of the 
policing of ships and shore-stations and of the guns of light calibre afloat. 
The duties of the remaining officers are indicated by their titles. The titles 
of line officers and their relative rank, as compared with that of officers of the 
army, are : — 

NAVY. ARMY. 

Admiral General. 

Rear- Admiral Major or Brigadier- General. 

Captain Colonel. 

Commander Lieutenant-Colonel. 

Lieutenant-Commander Major. 



86 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

Lieutenant Captain. 

Lieutenant Junior Grade First Lieutenant. 

Ensign Second Lieutenant. 

Line and marine officers and naval constructors are educated at the United 
States Naval Academy ; all other officers are appointed from civil life. The 
Academy was founded in 1845 and is located at Annapolis, Md. The course 
comprises four years at the school and two years at sea on a naval vessel. 
The number of cadets at Annapolis is usually about 260. 

It is by reason of wars that navies exist, and a few words as to our — now 
happily ended — conflict with Spain, may fitly close this review of naval pro- 
gress. The military lessons of that struggle have been fully set forth by 
able writers. More important, by far, than these is its teaching as regard to 
our state and future as a nation. The world has learned that the people of 
these United States are stirred still by the same stern and dauntless spirit 
which, in Revolution and Civil War, has made and kept us a nation. Fur- 
thermore, with one swift stroke, the bounds which in theory and in territory 
circumscribed us have been swept away, and the United States have passed 
from a continental to a world power. This is not chance. It is but the lead- 
ing onward to a destiny whose splendor we may not measure now, whose light 
and peace and prosperity shall traverse a hemisphere. The one note of sad- 
ness in it all is the memory of the gallant dead, of the heroes who fell that 
this might be. To them, in Cuba and the Philippines, Columbia — with a 
smile of pride and a sob of pain — drinks in the wine of tears to-day, as the 
smoke of battle fades. 



ASTRONOMY DURING THE CENTURY 

By SELDEN J. COFFIN, A.M., 

Professor of Astronomy, Lafayette College, Easton, Pa. 

ITS PROGRESS, ACHIEVEMENTS, AND NOTABLE RESULTS 

Astronomy, the oldest of all the family of sciences, is not a whit behind 
its sister branches in activity of research and brilliance of discovery. The 
assiduity and zeal of its devotees are marvelous. The celestial field is so 
wide, the depths of space between the stars so vast, that no assurance can 
ever be given to an astronomer that a lifetime of faithful and intelligent 
research will be rewarded with even a single discovery of importance. In 
this respect it differs materially from other branches of science. 

Nevertheless the patient labor of those who serve in its temple has rarely 
failed to receive an adequate reward. The discovery made in August, 1877, 
by Professor Asaph Hall, of Washington, that the planet Mars is attended 
by two satellites, is a convincing illustration of this peculiarity of the pur- 
suit of astronomy as a study. An indefatigable watcher of the skies for 
many years, Professor Hall, looking at this planet at its opposition in 1877, 
when it was unusually near to the earth, was surprised to note two tiny 
points of light quite close to it ; seeing them again the next evening, changed 
in their positions relative to Mars, it flashed upon him that the firm tradition 
that Mars had no moons was now disproved. His name will be forever 
associated with these two bodies, Deimos and Phobos, as their discoverer, 
although they are but wee orbs, only seven miles in diameter. 

I. ASTRONOMY A CENTURY AGO. 

The end of the eighteenth century found the Copernican theory of 
astronomy well established, the principles laid down by Kepler and Newton 
fully elaborated, and the application of the higher mathematics to the needs 
of astronomy complete. But there were, as yet, no large telescopes, and 
observatories were few. In Germany, a great disposition to make observa- 
tions in this science and in meteorology was displayed in 1783 and for a few 
years following, and the records then made have proved of much value in 
confirming discoveries announced at later periods. 

When Sir William Herschel, on March 13, 1781, pointed out a little star 
in the constellation of the Twins, and found that it had a perceptible disk 
and a slight motion, and was therefore not a star, but a newly found planet, 
to which the name Uranus was soon given, a careful inspection of the note- 
books of previous observers showed that Uranus had been observed and 
recorded as a fixed star on twenty previous occasions in that century. One 
man had seen it twelve times, and made his record of it on a paper bag pur- 
chased at a perfumer's. Had he been a man of sufficient order and method 
to have penned what he saw on the regular records of his observatory, to 
him would have come the glory of the great discovery of that century. 



88 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

ii. how "bode's law" promoted research. 

An erroneous guess, if it is a good guess, sometimes produces excellent 
results. In 1778, Bode, of Berlin, published a "law" that states the dis- 
tances of the various planets from the sun. It is often expressed simply in 
this way : Set down 4, and add to it successively the numbers 3, 6, 12, 24, 
etc., and the sums obtained, viz., 4, 7, 10, 16, 28, etc., represent the relative 
distances of all the planets from the sun, viz., Mercury 4, Venus 7, Earth 10, 
Mars 16, [Asteroids 28 ], Jupiter 52, etc. In reference to all the planets 
then known to exist, the correspondence of the alleged law to the facts was 
remarkable. The one point in which the alleged system utterly failed was 
in requiring the existence of a planet to fill the gap between Mars and Jupi- 
ter. So boldly did Biela press his convictions of the correctness of this law 
upon the notice of his fellow-workers, that they resolved, in 1800, to divide 
the zodiac into twenty -four zones, to be apportioned among them, for the 
express purpose of searching for undiscovered planets. This well-organized 
effort was, erelong, rewarded by the surprising discovery of four new 
planets, the first one on the first night of the new century, January 1, 1801, 
and three more soon after. As no more seemed to be forthcoming, the search 
was relinquished in 1816. A fifth was found in 1845, and nearly five hun- 
dred since. Since 1891 photography has been wondrously serviceable in 
finding these bodies. A sensitive plate, on being exposed toward that part 
of the sky which it is desired to examine, will record all the perceptible stars 
as round disks ; while any planets that appear in the field of view will, by 
their motion, leave their trace in the form of elongated trails or streaks, thus 
betraying themselves at once on the photographs. In this way Charlois, of 
Nice, Italy, has found nearly ninety small planets. All these planetoids, 
as the minor planets are often termed, are quite small, being but twenty to 
one hundred miles in diameter, and not consequential members of the solar 
system. Bocle's law thus fulfilled its temporary mission; but egregiously 
failed when Neptune claimed admission to a place in the solar system, for its 
distance from the sun was utterly out of harmony with that required by the 
law of Bode. 

III. HOW NEPTUNE WAS FOUND. 

The patience of Job had a strong parallel in the labors of those tireless 
toilers to whose minute computations we owe our knowledge of Neptune's 
path in the skies. For this far-off planet was discovered not by the use of a 
telescope, or any optical instrument, but simply by a process of mathemati- 
cal reasoning. The story is simply this. For sixty years after Uranus was 
recognized, there were irregularities in its motion that could not be satis- 
factorily accounted for. In the orbit that it was believed to pursue, it was 
sometimes in advance of its proper position, and sometimes it seemed to fall 
behind. Sometimes it appeared to be drawn a little to the right, and at 
other times as far the other way. 

The thought at last came separately to several penetrating minds, not that 
the observations of its position were in error, but that Uranus must be drawn 
away from its supposed path by the attraction exercised upon it by some 
unseen body. And if such an object existed, was it a planet ? Where was 
it ? How large was it ? What was its path in the far-off ether ? 



ASTRONOMY DURING THE CENTURY 



89 



In the year 1842, the Royal Society of Sciences of Gbttingen proposed as 
a prize question the full discussion of the theory of the motions of Uranus. 
It was specially sought to learn the cause of the large and increasing error 
of Bouvard's Tables that had been relied upon to show its motion and its 
precise position at any time. Several able mathematicians undertook this 
intricate problem. Among them were John C. Adams, of Cambridge Uni- 
versity, England, Sears C. Walker, of Washington, a man whose sad fate it 
was to pass away ere his magnificent abilities could receive extended recog- 




THE MOVEMENT OF URANUS AND NEPTUNE. 

The inner circle shows the position of Uranus at various dates; the outer circle the position of 
Neptune. The arrows show the direction toward which Uranus was drawn. 



nition, and M. Le Verrier, of Paris. Working unknown to each other, they 
reached similar conclusions almost at the same time. Though not the first 
to solve the problem, the brilliant Frenchman was the first to announce his 
result, which he did by writing a letter to Dr. Galle, of the Berlin Observa- 
tory, where there was one of the largest telescopes in Europe, and asking 
him to search for his computed planet, and assigning its supposed place in 
the heavens. The very night he received the letter Dr. Galle found the 
planet within one degree of the point designated. The next night it had 
moved one minute of space, and was also seen to have a perceptible disk. 
This settled the question, and stamped it as a planet. Le Verrier well 
merited the title bestowed upon him, " First astronomer of the age." 



90 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

IV. METEORITES. 

The nineteenth century will be forever memorable for its witnessing the 
closing career and final destruction of a famous comet. First noticed in 
France, in 1772, and rediscovered, in 1826, by an Austrian officer named 
Biela, it bears his name. His computation showed that it traversed its 
orbit in six and one half years. When it reappeared in 1846, and again in 
1852, it was seen to have split into two unequal fragments. It has not been 
seen since ; but at every time when its return should have taken place the 
earth has passed through showers of meteors supposed to be its constituent 
particles, and to indicate its entire disintegration. 

During the meteoric shower of 1885, on the 27th of November, a large iron 
meteorite fell in Mazapil, Mexico, and chemical and physical investigation 
joined to pronounce it a part of the lost Biela's comet. 

The large cabinets of the world contain hundreds of specimens of meteor- 
ites, known to be such by their chemical composition, but only a few have 
actually been seen to fall. The most remarkable fall ever witnessed was 
that of May 10, 1879, in Iowa, in which the heaviest stone weighed 437 
pounds. On April 8, 1893, an aerolite fell near Osawatomie, Kansas, and 
struck the monument to John Brown that had been erected through the 
efforts of Horace Greeley in 1863. The meteor broke off the left arm of 
the statue. A Texas meteorite, owned by Yale University, weighs 1635 
pounds. A meteorite that fell in Jiminez, in 1892, now deposited in the 
city of Mexico, weighs twenty tons ; and one lying on the coast of Labrador, 
which it is proposed to bring to the United States, is said to be still more 
massive. 

V. DO METEORS OFTEN STRIKE THE EARTH ? 

It must not be thought that meteors usually strike the earth. In truth, 
but few of them do. The earth is surrounded by them, cold, dark, invisible, 
because unillumined. It is only when they become heated by rapidly im- 
pinging on the atmosphere that they can be seen at all; and unless they 
come near enough to become subject to the dominant power of the earth's 
attraction, they pass off into space unnoticed, and their presence unsuspected. 

A case in point is the brilliant " fire-ball " of July 20, 1860, that moved 
rapidly over the United States, from Wisconsin to Cape Cod, and then passed 
off into the skies. The entire time of its visible flight over a path of thir- 
teen hundred miles was about two minutes. It was seen about ten o'clock 
in the evening. It was estimated to be from one hundred to five hundred 
feet in diameter, allowing for an increase as it expanded by reason of its 
striking with such velocity the lower and denser layers of the air. Its size 
and brilliancy were such as to arrest the attention of hundreds of persons, 
some of whom crouched in fear, and even alleged that they heard it hiss as 
it flew over their heads. Some fishermen in Lake Huron had ropes over the 
sides of their boat, ready to spring into the water if it came too near. 

James H. Coffin, LL. D., then Professor of Astronomy in Lafayette College, 
made an exhaustive study of this unusual phenomenon, and, under the pat- 
ronage of the Smithsonian Institution, published a volume containing many 
observations that he collected, with the mathematical results derived from 



ASTRONOMY DURING THE CENTURY 



91 



them. Professor J. Hann, of Vienna, the highest authority on this subject, 
said that it was the most comprehen- 
sive study of a meteor's path ever ac- 
complished. Six years were spent in 
making the computations. 

Self-illumined by the heat evolved in 
striking the various layers of the earth's 
atmosphere, it became sufficiently bright 
to be first seen when seventy miles 
above the surface of the earth. It was 
within forty miles of touching us at 
the time it was over the Hudson River, 
when the great heat acquired by its 
rapid transit caused it to burst into two 
masses, which — like Biela's comet — 
continued to pursue separate courses, 
side by side, until they were lost to 
view in their ascending flight, being last 
seen from the deck of a vessel off the 
island of Nantucket. 

No part of the fire-ball struck the 
earth. Its orbit was an hyperbola, a 
curve not often found in nature, and 
such that it can never come near us 
again unless, by the superior attraction of some celestial body, its course 
may be changed, and a new orbit result. 




JAMES H. COFFIN, 

Late Professor of Astronomy, Lafayette College, 
Easton, Pa. 



VI. ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORIES. 

The Royal Observatory, at Greenwich, England, was founded by Charles 
the Second in 1675. Its main purpose was to extend astronomical know- 
ledge, so that navigators might better find the position of their ships at sea. 
This institution retains its prominence. All the longitudes on our maps are 
reckoned from it, and Greenwich time is used on every ship that traverses 
the ocean. The " Nautical Almanac," issued by the Observatory, was an 
indispensable part of the outfit of every sea captain until, in 1852, the 
United States provided its own American Ephemeris, a collection of tables 
of the motions and places of the sun, moon, and planets for every day and 
hour, and occultations of the stars, with rules for calculating longitude 
and the like. 

Many valuable observations of the transit of Venus in 1769 were made at 
points near Philadelphia ; but almost seventy years ensued before America 
witnessed the erection of any permanent buildings deyoted to the purposes 
of this science. 

President John Quincy Adams, who was highly versed in science, and held 
the position of president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 
Boston for twenty years, often urged this matter on the attention of Con- 
gress, but without success. 

President Thomas Jefferson, who was also a man of no small scientific 
information, as evidenced in his keeping a systematic weather record at his 



92 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

home in Monticello, Virginia, proposed an elaborate survey of the national 
coast. This was authorized by Congress in 1807. In the year 1832, in 
reviving an act for the continuance of the Coast Survey, Congress was care- 
ful to append the proviso "that nothing in the act should be construed 
to authorize the erection or maintenance of a permanent astronomical 
observatory." 

The expected return of Halley's comet in 1835 again stimulated popular 
interest in the science, and aroused an intense desire to provide serviceable 
instruments, and to establish buildings suitable for their care and use. To 
Williams College, Massachusetts, belongs the honor of erecting, in 1836, the 
first astronomical observatory on this continent. Under its revolving dome 
was mounted an Herschelian telescope of ten feet focus, which later became 
the property of Lafayette College, where it is still preserved. In 1843, John 
Quincy Adams laid the corner-stone of the Longworth Observatory in Cin- 
cinnati, and delivered a commemorative address, his last great oration. The 
construction of the United States Naval Observatory at Washington soon 
followed, and before 1850 there were fourteen observatories established in 
this country. Nearly all the instruments they contained were made abroad, 
chiefly in Munich and London. Since then the number has risen to two 
hundred recognized observatories, of which twenty-four are of superior 
order, where systematic work is daily pursued, and the results are regularly 
published in book form. About two hundred observatories exist in other 
nations. 

VII. IMPROVED INSTRUMENTS ; THEIR EFFECT ON THE SCIENCE. 

The great improvements in telescopes made during the century have been 
fruitful in two ways ; a better knowledge of the surface of the moon and of 
the planets has been gained, and we have been enabled to learn with pre- 
cision the exact motions and times of revolution of these bodies and of their 
accompanying moons. This information, by the use of the laws ascertained 
by Kepler and La Place, gives us their exact distance, dimensions, and mass. 
With the increase of telescopic power, the census of the starry host has been 
so augmented that the number of stars within reach of our modern instru- 
ments exceeds 125,000,000. But we had gone little beyond this sort of 
information until the invention of the spectroscope. 

Previous to the year 1859 a few meteors, composed chiefly of stone or 
iron, some of which had been actually seen to fall from the sky, had been 
subjected to chemical analysis ; but outside of this naught was known of the 
physical constitution of other worlds than ours. Our ignorance on this point 
was complete. All our attempts to become better acquainted with the struc- 
ture of the planets, the composition of the sun, and the nature of the fixed 
stars would probably have been in vain but for the invention of the spectro- 
scope. This surprising instrument is a master-key with which to unlock 
many of Nature's mysteries ; her recesses are brought to view, and the 
farthest star is subjected to an accurate chemical analysis, so far as the 
light that comes from it is sufficient to disclose the materials of which it is 
composed. 

The wondrous use of electricity as an agent for the production of light, 
heat, and power is no greater achievement, in its way, than is Spectrum 



94 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

Analysis in bringing to our earthly laboratories the work of the Divine 
Hand performed in distant regions of space. Yet the story of the spectro- 
scope is easily told. In its essential elements it is merely this : A ray of 
light, entering a darkened room through a hole in the window shutter, pro- 
duces a bright beam on the opposite wall. A triangular glass prism held 
close to the crevice turns this beam into a band of rainbow hues. If the 
hole can be changed into a small slit, say one fourth of an inch high and one 
fiftieth of an inch wide, and if the light can further be made to pass in suc- 
cession through several prisms, instead of through one, the band will be so 
elongated thereby that its various and surprising markings can be thoroughly 
traced and fully studied. 

To this band of bright colors Sir Isaac Newton gave the name of the 




THE SPECTROSCOPE. 



solar spectrum. The image formed by the light of any luminous body, 
after it has passed through a prism, is said to be the spectrum of that body. 

VIII. THE SPECTROSCOPE AND ITS TRIUMPHS. 

The spectroscope consists essentially of three tubes joined in the form of 
the letter Y, one of which is a small telescope, in the focus of which a 
narrow slit is placed to admit the ray of light that is to be examined; 
a prism, or a ruled grating that disperses the light, so as to form a spec- 
trum ; and a view telescope, with which to observe the various parts of the 
spectrum. 

By using a small telescope to view the spectrum of the sun, Fraunhofer, a 
German optician, in 1814, discovered that the whole length of the spectrum 
was crowded with dark lines, very narrow, indeed, but scattered all through 
the seven hues. He found that sunlight, whether taken directly or reflected 




YEREES TELESCOPE, UNIVERSITY OP CHICAGO. 

Largest in the World 



9b' TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX T " CENTURY 

from clouds or from the moon or planets, invariably gave the same spectrum ; 
but in no case did light from the stars give a spectrum of the same sort as 
that from the sun. 

Dr. Kirchhoff, of Heidelberg, in 1859, explained the origin of the dark 
lines, and showed that there are three kinds of spectra : first, that of an 
incandescent solid or liquid, which is always perfectly continuous, showing 
neither dark lines nor bright ; second, the spectrum of a glowing gas, which 
consists of bright lines or bands separated by dark spaces. These lines are 
characteristic of the chemical elements that cause them ; and so, from the 
composition of the bright lines in a spectrum, it is possible to tell their 
origin. Third, a spectrum crossed by dark lines ; which occurs when an incan- 
descent solid is viewed through absorbent vapors. 

In the solar eclipse of 1868, M. Janssen first noticed that the solar 
prominences gave a spectrum of the second kind, and thus proved that the 
prominences consist of glowing gas. Since that time the march of discovery 
has been exceedingly rapid. 

This simple instrument has thus led the way to a knowledge of the ele- 
ments composing every heavenly body, no matter what its distance, provided 
only it is giving out light intense enough to reach our gaze. For the perfec- 
tion both of the telescope and spectroscope we owe much to the optical skill 
and mechanical dexterity of the Clarks and Rowland, Hastings and Brashear, 
all Americans. 

About forty chemical elements have now been recognized in the sun. The 
most prominent are iron, calcium, hydrogen, nickel, and sodium. A distor- 
tion, or displacement, of some of the lines in the spectrum enables us to cal- 
culate the speed at which the gases are rushing toward or from us. A given 
line in the spectrum of Aldebaran is displaced toward the violet in such a 
way as to show that the star is approaching the sun at the rate of thirty 
miles a second ; while a similar line, in the case of Altair, so deviates toward 
the red end of the spectrum as to prove that it is receding from the solar 
system at a velocity of twenty-four miles a second. By this principle, recog- 
nized by Doppler in 1842, the motions of about one hundred stars toward or 
from the solar system have been ascertained. 

There is no question but that the solar system, as a whole, is steadily 
moving away from Sirius, and toward the constellation of Hercules ; whether 
faster than at a rate of twelve miles every second is still scarcely decided ; 
but this rate Avould be about a million miles a day, or three hundred and 
seventy million miles a year. 

IX. WHAT IS DONE IN A LARGE OBSERVATORY; ITS WORK. 

A visitor who wants to know what is done in a great observatory might 
go to Harvard some evening. He would probably find the large refractor 
pointed toward the satellites of Jupiter, Uranus, or Neptune, Avith a view of 
noting their precise places, so as to compute tables of their exact motions ; 
or he might find a laborious observer watching such double stars as have con- 
siderable proper motion, and making drawings of conspicuous nebulae, so that 
future astronomers may be able to decide whether time has wrought any 
changes in their constitution or figure. The great glass at Princeton, under 
the charge of Professor Charles A. Young, is largely used for spectroscopic 



ASTRONOMY DURING THE CENTURY 



97 



work, examining the sun's photosphere by day, and noting the spectra of the 
stars at night. Spectral observation is an important part of the routine at 
the Yerkes Observatory in Wisconsin. 

Many faint comets have been successfully photographed at the Lick Obser- 
vatory, on Mount Hamilton, California, and elsewhere by the use of very 
sensitive plates and a long exposure. 

S. W. Burnham, of Chicago, is famed for his acuteness of vision, tested in 
having detected and measured over one thousand double stars which to other 
eyes had appeared only as single stars. The discovery of these objects 
belongs wholly to the nineteenth century ; for in 1803, Sir William Herschel 
first announced the existence of sidereal systems composed of two stars, one 
revolving around the other, or both moving about a common centre. Some 
of these binary systems have periods of as great a length as fifteen hundred 
years ; and some are as brief as four, and even two days. Some of them 
afford curious instances of contrasted colors, the larger star red or orange, 
and the smaller star blue or arreen. 



X. THE NATIONAL OBSERVATORY AT WASHINGTON. 

Professor William Harkness, U. S. N., M. D., LL. D., is widely known as 
the author of numerous astronomical 
and physical papers and books. He has 
also designed a number of instruments 
and made important discoveries. He 
has long been connected with the Unit- 
ed States Naval Observatory, and now 
holds the position of Astronomical Di- 
rector. His report for the year 1898 
shows that the twenty -six inch reflector 
at Washington is now nightly engaged in 
mapping the relative positions of Rhea 
and Iapetus, the fifth and eighth satel- 
lites of Saturn, with the intention of 
securing a new and final determination 
of the mass of that planet, which has 
been heretofore reckoned as one 3192d 
of the sun. The twelve-inch telescope 
is chiefly employed in studying comets 
and asteroids, and on Thursday even- 
ings is at the service of the public. In 
the year 1898, 3778 observations were 
made with the nine-inch transit circle, for which two men were detailed, 
with the services of five computers. 

A transit circle and an altazimuth instrument, each turned out of solid 
steel, have recently been added to the equipment, and are of a workmanship 
that compares favorably with anything ever manufactured in Europe. It is 
asserted that the latter instrument will give more accurate measurements of 
declination than a transit circle, which is an innovation on long-cherished 
ideas. 

Professor Simon Newcomb, of the United States Navy, is about to issue 
7 




PP.OFESSOF. WTT,T,TAM HAP.KNESS, 

Astronomical Director U. S. Naval Observatory, 
Washington, D. C. 



98 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

new tables of Mars, Uranus, and Neptune, and a " Catalogue of Fundamental 
Stars for the Epoch 1900." During the year 1898 three thousand copies of 
the American Nautical Almanac were published. This is but an illustration 
of the scientific labor accomplished at this busy hive of industry. During 
the year this observatory issued to the navy 230 chronometers, 200 sextants 
and octants, and 1400 other nautical instruments of value. 

XI. STAR MAPS AND CATALOGUES. 

In the year 128 b. c. Hipparchus put out a catalogue of 1025 stars 
observed at Rhodes. Twenty such works succeeded this up to the year 
1801, when Lalande, of Paris, brought out a list of 47,390 stars. It will be 
remembered that few stars have names, except those known to the Arabians 
of old, but are designated by their positions in the heavens. It is customary 
to refer to them by their declinations and right ascensions, as so many 
degrees north or south of the celestial equator, and so many degrees, or 
hours, east of the vernal equinox — fifteen degrees being the equivalent of 
an hour of right ascension — just like the latitude and longitude of cities 
on a common globe. 

During the nineteenth century many celestial atlases and astronomical 
catalogues have been published. These contain lists of comets and nebulae, 
and the places of the double stars and of the fixed stars. Of the latter alone 
over one hundred have appeared, of which Argelander's is by far the largest, 
as it contains the places of more than 310,000 stars. The catalogue prepared 
by the British Association in 1845 is of great value, containing 8377 stars. 
Yarnall's, of 10,658 stars, published in Washington in 1873, is most acces- 
sible to us. 

Professor C. H. F. Peters, of the Hamilton College Observatory, Clinton, 
N. Y., the discoverer of so many asteroids, has prepared a valuable series of 
star charts. By dividing the heavens into small squares and carefully photo- 
graphing each of them, the places of a vast number of stars can be recorded 
with far greater accuracy than by the old plan of a separate instrumental 
measurement of the position of the stars. By the use of microscopes the 
determination of their positions can be made with precision. These plates 
are preserved with care, and when those of the same region of the skies, 
made in different years, are compared, any variation in the relative positions 
of the objects can be detected with certainty. The perfection of this method 
of star-mapping is justly deemed one of the most important achievements of 
the century. 

For an amateur star-gazer who is not provided with a set of maps, Whitall's 
Planisphere is a very ready aid, as it can be instantly adjusted to any day 
and hour. The inexperienced, and those who have no instruments, can use 
it with ease and satisfaction to locate a thousand of the most conspicuous 
stars. 

XII. ASTRONOMICAL BOOKS AND THEIR WRITERS. 

In England this attractive study has been popularized chiefly by the inter- 
esting works of the two Herschels, who were voluminous writers, the lectures 
of Proctor, and the admirable compend of facts so assiduously gathered by 
G. F. Chambers in his delightful treatise on astronomy. 

J3VJ 



ASTRONOMY DURING THE CENTURY 99 

In our own country the heights of theoretical astronomy have been scaled 
by such minds as Benjamin Pierce, the profound mathematician of Harvard 
University ; James C. Watson, of Ann Arbor, whose early death was a great 
loss to science ; and Simon Newcomb, the genial savant of Washington. 
Chauvenet and Loomis have taught us the meaning of practical astronomy ; 
and Olmsted, Young, Todd, and not a few others of distinction have prepared 
text-books that fully present the elements of the science. 

Nor is this fascinating study limited to the students of the 484 colleges 
and universities of the land. The last report of the United States Commis- 
sioner of Education shows that in the public and private high schools of the 
nation there are over nine thousand boys and sixteen thousand girls pursuing 
the study of astronomy. 

XIII. THE PRACTICAL USES OF ASTRONOMY AS AN AID TO NAVIGATION 

AND GEODESY. 

The practical value of this science is best appreciated by the navigator, 
who sees in the sun and moon his clock, and in the stars and planets the 
ready means of learning his latitude and longitude. It is one of the first 
tasks of the midshipman to become familiar with the use of the sextant, by 
which he works out the problem of ascertaining the exact place of the ship 
upon the ocean. Navigation is helpless without the assistance of astronomy. 
Yet it is only the A, B, C of the science that the sailor has any use for ; its 
higher mysteries are away beyond his needs and of no practical profit to him. 

Nathaniel Bowditch, of Salem, Mass., in 1802, issued a book entitled " The 
New American Practical Navigator," which is still a standard treatise for 
seamen. His rare acquirements as a mathematician were signally displayed, 
and in a form that has proved enduring, when, in 1814-17, he translated into 
English, accompanied with copious notes of his own, the profound work, 
" Celestial Mechanics," penned by the gifted La Place in 1799. Although in 
name a translation of a foreign book with a commentary, it is in many 
respects an original work. Professor Elias Loomis, who left to Yale Uni- 
versity three hundred thousand dollars as an endowment fund to aid in 
prosecuting astronomical research, said of him, in 1850, " Bowditch has prob- 
ably done more for the improvement of physical astronomy than all other 
Americans combined." Dr. Bowditch published the work in four ponderous 
quarto volumes wholly at his own private cost. These volumes he did not 
expose for sale, but generously gave them to such persons as proved to him 
their ability to appreciate and comprehend them. This outlay impaired the 
fortunes of his family, but became his own unique monument. 

This work remains one of the most profound efforts of mathematical 
research on record. Bowditch's accuracy has passed into a proverb. He 
gave the latitude of all the principal seaports of the world with marked pre- 
cision ; while some of the longitudes are now found to be slightly in error, it 
is surprising that his determinations of those of Boston and Philadelphia 
should be exactly the same as those obtained by the best methods in use 
to-day. But he makes San Francisco and Halifax seven miles too far to the 
east, and New York eight miles too far west. But we are to remember that 
for this computation the best available instruments were the chronometers 
of a century ago, and that lunar observations were made with the old-time 
sextant. rm 



100 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



As applied to geodesy, astronomy has added a process of ascertaining geo- 
graphical latitude with marvelous accuracy and speed by the use of the 
zenith telescope, an instrument devised by Major Talcott in 1835. This 
instrument can be set in a vertical direction with ease, and be pointed alter- 




ZENITH TELESCOPE. 
Made for University of Pennsylvania by Warner & Swasey. 

nately to two stars that cross the meridian at a brief interval of time, the one 
north and the other south of the zenith. Difficulties that arise from refrac- 
tion are avoided, and the resulting latitude is quickly computed. This 
method is largely employed in the surveys of the public lands, as also in 
establishing the boundary between the United States and British America. 



ASTRONOMY DURING THE CENTURY 101 



XIV. NOTABLE EPOCHS IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 

Worth marking as epochs of the nineteenth century were such dates as 
October 10, 1846, when the first determination of difference of longitude of 
two places was made by the use of the telegraph wire. Sears C. Walker, in 
Washington, and E. Otis Kendall, in Philadelphia, compared their clocks by 
interchanging telegraphic signals, and thus found their respective longitudes. 

In 1850, Professor William C. Bond, of Harvard College, invented the 
chronograph. Through the urgency of Sir David Brewster, it was shown in 
the great exhibition of that year in London, where a medal was awarded for 
it. The chronograph was speedily adopted throughout Europe, and together 
with other apparatus made by Bond constituted what there became known as 
the "American method" of recording observations. Through it the errors 
for which the "personal equation" is a partial remedy are largely elimi- 
nated, and a superior definiteness of record is obtained. 

On August 7, 1869, the first application of the spectroscope to the examina- 
tion of the corona of the sun was the beginning of the revelation of the inner 
mysteries of the constitution and activities of the great luminary. The tran- 
sit of Venus that occurred on December 6, 1882, Avas fruitful in measure- 
ments, by which the estimates of the distance of the sun were reduced from 
the long-accepted figures, 95 to 92 millions of miles. Yet this loss of three 
millions of miles resulted from the apparently trifling change of reckoning 
the sun's parallax at 8.82 /; , instead of 8.57". An occurrence of vast practical 
advantage to the whole nation was that of November 18, 1883, when the four 
standard meridians of railroad time were adopted and put into use. From 
that day the clocks of the Union were set to keep either Eastern, Central, 
Mountain, or Pacific Coast time. 

Professor Edward E. Barnard had used the magnificent telescope of thirty- 
six inches aperture, belonging to the Lick Observatory in California, but a 
short time before he astonished the world by discovering a fifth satellite of 
Jupiter, although it appeared as but a faint speck of light. Besides other 
honors for this achievement, in 1894 the French Academy of Sciences 
awarded him the Arago medal, of the value of a thousand francs, a distinc- 
tion given but twice before, first to Le Verrier, for the discovery of Neptune 
in 1846, and to Asaph Hall, for finding the two moons of Mars in 1877. 

"Personal equation" is the name given to the amount of error to which 
any person is habitually liable in attempting to note the time of a fixed 
occurrence. When the astronomer looks at a star passing the cross-wires of 
his transit, he is likely to make the record one or two tenths of a second 
after the true time, or possibly a like small amount of time before the actual 
occurrence, by anticipation. This is not a matter of wrong intention, nor 
due to willfulness. But in precise observations, especially where compari- 
sons are to be made between the records of several persons, the " personal 
equation" must be determined, if possible, and allowed for. Various 
methods of correcting this inaccuracy have been used. But the best is that 
of Frank H. Bigelow, of the Nautical Almanac Office, Washington, who, in 
1890, devised a process of taking star transits by photography. It entirely 
does away with this source of error, and has proved of great value. 



102 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

XV. DISCARDED DOCTRINES AND ABANDONED IDEAS. 

A few generations ago an eight-day clock was to be found only in the 
homes of well-to-do people, and a gold watch was a symbol of wealth, such 
as to subject its wearer to a special tax. In this age of dollar clocks and 
Waterbury watches, almanacs are no longer indispensable. We do not regu- 
late our time-pieces by the rising and setting of the sun ; nor can a future 
Jay Gould lay the foundation of his fortune, as did the one best known by 
that name, by setting up rural noon-marks for a fixed fee. 

Some pleasant dreams of past decades have vanished in the light of recent 
knowledge. The nebular hypothesis, that wondrous conception of Sweden- 
borg, elaborated by La Place and espoused by William Herschel and so many 
others, as affording a full explanation of the method by which our worlds 
were shaped into their present forms, has ceased to have general acceptance. 
M. Maedler, director of the Dorpat Observatory in 1846, had a firm persua- 
sion that the collective body of stars visible to us has a movement of revolu- 
tion about a centre situated in the group of the Pleiades, and corresponding 
to the star Alcyone. But this notion of a central sun around which all the 
solar system is circling has lost ground. 

The distortion in the orbit of the planet Mercury has been accounted for 
by the urgent suggestion that there must be some planet, as yet undiscovered, 
that disturbs the regularity of Mercury's movements, but whose orbit is so 
near to the sun as to baffle all ordinary efforts to see it. It has received, by 
anticipation, the prenatal name of Vulcan. Many eyes have peered most 
intently into the region indicated, and some few have imagined they had 
found what they sought. A physician of the village of Orgeres, Prance, 
M. Lescarbault by name, on March 26, 1859, saw such an object pass over 
the sun's disk. The skillful Le Verrier was much impressed by this physi- 
cian's minute account of the occurrence. But there was no confirmation of 
the alleged discovery. At the time of subsequent eclipses that part of the 
heavens has been repeatedly examined closely, but in vain. So we must 
wait longer before believing that Vulcan does exist. 

When, in 1877, Professor Hall, through the powerful telescope at Wash- 
ington, saw that Mars was attended by two tiny satellites, he put a perma- 
nent injunction on the further use of the once favorite phrase, 

"The snowy polos of moonless Mars." 

And so of the question oft discusssed in the old-time debating societies, 
" Are the planets inhabited ? " It may still be left in the hands of young 
collegians, notwithstanding the fact that our largest telescopes give only 
negative testimony. 

In a solar eclipse in February, 1736, that was annular in shape, just before 
the sun was completely hidden, the narrow horn of light seemed to break 
into a series of dots, or luminous points, which, when noted again a century 
later and described by Francis Baily, received the name of " Baily Beads." 
It was attempted to explain this as caused by the moon's mountains cutting 
off the last rays of sunlight, or else as produced by irradiation. But with 
the advent of stronger telescopic power the phenomenon has come to an end. 

David Rittenhouse, of ISTorristown, whom Thomas Jefferson considered " sec- 



ASTRONOMY DURING THE CENTURY 



103 



ond to no astronomer living," built an orrery worth a thousand dollars, to 
illustrate mechanically the motions of all the planets, and though the instru- 
ment is still treasured in the University of Pennsylvania, and its duplicate 
at Princeton, among the relics of a past age, it is assigned to the category 




BY WARNER & SWA SET. 



of toys. Mural circles, much depended upon to measure the declination of 
heavenly bodies, have fallen into disuse, supplanted by improved transit 
instruments. 



XVI. PROBLEMS FOR FUTURE STUDY. 

Many problems are in store for the future. The field for research still 
opens wide. How the solar activity is to be maintained was answered by 
Newton in the suggestion that comets falling into it kept up its supply of 
matter and energy. Waterston, in 1S53, propounded the thought that mete- 
oric matter may be the aliment of the sun. Now the prevalent theory is 



104 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

that a contraction of the sun's volume, constantly in progress, but so slight 
as to be invisible to the most powerful telescope, is competent to furnish a 
heat supply equal to all that can have been emitted during historic periods. 

Professor Newcomb answers the < question, " How long will the sun en- 
dure ? " by saying, " The physical conclusion to which we are led by a study 
of the laws of nature is that the sun, like a living being, must have a birth 
and will have an end. From the known amount of heat which it radiates we 
can, even in a rude way, calculate the probable length of its life. From 
fifteen to twenty millions of years seems to be the limit of its age in the 
past, and it may exist a few millions of years, perhaps five or ten, in the 
future." 




CAROLUS LINN/EUS OF SWEDEN, FATHER OF MODERN BOTANY. 

This illustration was prepared by a Swedish society, and represents the famous botanist after his 
return from the exploration of Lapland, and with a bunch of his favorite flower (Linnoea bure- 
alis) in his hand. 



STORY OF PLANT AND FLOWER 

By THOMAS MEEHAN, 

Vice President Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. 

Botany, in its general sense, signifies the knowledge of plants. In the 
earlier periods of human history plants appealed to mankind as material for 
food or medicine ; and down to comparatively recent times botanical studies 
were pursued mainly in these directions. Dioscorides, a Greek, who lived in 
the first century of the Christian era, is the earliest writer of whom we have 
knowledge that can lay a claim to botanical distinction, but the medical 
property of plants was evidently the chief incentive to his task. It was 
not until the beginning of the sixteenth century that botany, in its broad 
sense, became a study, and Le Cluse, a French physician, who died in 1609, 
may be regarded as one of its patriarchs. Still the medical uses of plants 
were steadily kept in view. The English botanist, John Gerarde, who was a 
contemporary of Le Cluse, or Clusius, as botanists usually call him, wrote 
a remarkable work on botany, — remarkable for his time, — but this was 
styled a " Herbal," as were other famous botanical works down to the begin- 
ning of the present century. 



106 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 



Following the year 1700, the knowledge of plants individually became so 
extended that systematic arrangement became desirable. The first real 
advance in this direction was made by Carl Von Linne, commonly known by 
its Latin form, Linngeus, a Swede, born in 1707, and whose talents for botani- 
cal acquirements seemed almost in- 
nate. In his twenty-third year he 
saw the need of a better system, 
and commenced at once the great 
work of botanical reform. He saw 
that plants with a certain number 
of stamens and pistils were corre- 
lated, and he founded classes and 
orders on them. Flowers with five 
stamens or six stamens would be- 
long to his class pentandria or hex- 
andria, respectively, and those with 
five pistils or six pistils penta- 
gynia, or hexagynia, accordingly; 
and so on up to polyandria, or 
polygynia — many stamens or pis- 
tils — of which our common but- 
tercup is an illustration. He fur- 
ther showed that two names only 
were all that is necessary to de- 
note any plant, the generic name 
and its adjective, as, for instance, 
Cornus alba, the white Dogwood ; 
and that the descriptions should 
be brief, covering only the essen- 
tial points wherein one species of 
plant differed from another. This 
became known as the sexual sys- 
tem. It fairly electrified intelligent 
circles. People generally took to 
counting stamens and pistils, and 
large numbers took pride in being 
botanists because they could trace so easily the classes and orders of the 
plants they met. The grand old man died in 1778, and though his artificial 
system had to give way to a more natural method, he is justly regarded as 
the father of modern botany. 

With the incoming of the nineteenth century, botany took a rapid start. 
It ceased to be a mere handmaid to the study of medicine. Chemistry, geo- 
graphy, teleology, and indeed the chief foundations of biology had become 
closely interwoven with botanical studies ; and thus the progress of botany 
through the century has to be viewed from many standpoints. 

In classification, what is known as the natural system has replaced the 
sexual. Plants are grouped according to their apparent relationships. Those 
resembling in general character the Rose form the order Rosaeece ; the Lily, 
Liliaceai. Sometimes, however, a striking characteristic is adopted for the 




THE GREEN ROSE. 

Flower with leaves for petals. 



STORY OF PLANT AND FLOWER 



107 



family name, as Composite, or compound flower, for the daisy and aster- 
flowered plants ; Umbelliferce, or umbel-flowering, as in carrot or parsley ; 
Leguminosce, having the seed vessels as legumes, like peas and beans. 

Classification has, however, derived much assistance from a wholly new 
branch of the science known as Morphology. This teaches that all parts of 
plants are modifications of other parts. What Nature may have intended to 
be a leaf may become a stem ; the outer series of floral envelopes, or calyx, 
may become petals ; petals may become stamens ; and even pistils may be- 
come leaves, or even branches. The green rose of the florists is a case in 
which the leaves that should have been changed into petals to form a perfect 
rose flower have persisted in continuing green leaves, though masquerading 
as petals ; and it is not unusual to find in the rose cases where the pistils 
have reverted to their original destination as the analogue of branches, and 
have started a growth from the centre of the flower. So in an orange, the 
carpels, or divisions, are metamorphosed primary leaves. Two series of five 
each make the ten divisions. Sometimes the axis starts to make another 
growth, as noted in the rose, but does not get far before it is arrested, and 
then we have a small orange inside a larger one, as in the 
navel orange. Just the reverse occurs sometimes. The 
lower series is suppressed, and only the upper one devel- 
ops to a fruiting stage, when the small red oranges known 
as the Tangerines are the results. Illustrations of these 
transformations of one organ to another are frequent if 
we look for them. The annexed illustration shows a 
condition of the white clover, which, instead of the usual 
round head, has started on as a raceme or spike. 

These wanderings from general forms were formerly 
regarded as monsters, of no particular use to the botani- 
cal student, but are now Avelcomed as guiding stars to 
the central features of Morphology. The importance of 
this branch of botany, in connection with classification, 
can readily be seen. 

The studies in the behavior of plants have made re- 
markable progress during the century, and this also de- 
rives much aid from morphology. The strawberry sends 
out runners from which new plants are formed ; but, tir- 
ing of this, eventually sends the runner upward to act as 
a flower stalk. What might have been but a bunch of 
leaves and roots at the end of the runner is now con- 
verted into a mass of flowers and pedicels at the end of 
a common peduncle. In some cases Nature reverses this 
plan. After starting the structure as an erect fruit-bear- 
ing stem, it sends it back to pierce the ground as a root 
should do. This is well illustrated by the peanut. 

In the common Yucca, the more tropical species have HEAD 0F ™ TE CLO " 
erect stems ; but in the form known in gardens as Ad- 
am's needle and thread — Yucca filamentosa — the erect 
stem is sent down under the surface of the ground, and is then a rhizome, 
instead of a caudex, or stem. 




VER, WITH A BRANCH 
FROM THE CENTRE. 



108 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

Modification in connection with behavior is further illustrated by the 
grapevine and Virginia creeper. The whole leading shoot is here pushed 
aside by the development of a bud at the base of the leaf, that takes the place 
of a leading shoot. The original leader then becomes a tendril, and serves 
in the economy of the plant \>y clinging to trees or rocks, or in coiling around 




PEANUT. 
A pod magnified. 

other plants in support. Great progress has been made in this department 
of botany within recent years. Darwin has shown that the tendrils of some 
plants continue in motion for some time in order to find something to cling 
to. The grapevine especially spends a long time in this labor if there is 
difficulty in reaching a host. The plant preserves vital power all this time, 
but no sooner is support found, than nutrition is cut off, and the tendril dies, 
though, hard and wiry, it serves its parent plant as a support better dead 



STORY OF PLANT AND FLOWER 



109 




than alive. The amount of nutrition spent in sustaining motion is found to 
be enormous. A vine that can find ready means of support grows with a 
much more healthy vigor than one that has difficulty in finding it. Many 
plants present illustrations. 

Much advance has been made in the knowledge of the motions of plants as 
regards their various forms. Growth in plants is not continuous ; but is a 
series of rests and advances. In other 
words it is rhythmic. The nodes, or 
knots, in the stems of grasses are rest- 
ing-places. When a rest occurs, energy 
may be exerted in a different direc- 
tion, and a change of form result. 
This is well illustrated by the com- 
mon Dogwood of northern woods, Cor- 
nus florida on the eastern, and Comus 
Nuttallil on the western slope of the 
American continent. On the approach 
of winter the leaf is reduced to a bud 
scale, and then rests. When spring re- 
turns these scales resume growth and 
appear as white bracts. In the annexed 
illustration the scales that served for 
winter protection to the buds are seen 
at the apex of the bracts. In other 
species of Dogwood the bud scales do 
not resume growth. Energy is spent 
in another direction. In this manner 

we have an insight as to the cause of variation, which was not perceived even 
so recently as Darwin's time. We now say that variation results from vary- 
ing degrees of rhythmic growth — force ; and that this again is governed by 
varying powers of assimilation. 

The Darwinian view, that form results from external conditions of which 
the plant avails itself in a struggle for existence, is still widely accepted as 
a leading factor in the origin of species. Those which can assume the 
strongest weapons of defense continue to exist under the changed conditions. 
The weaker ones do not survive, and we only know of them as fossils. This 
is termed the doctrine of natural selection. 

The origin and development of plant-life, or, as it is termed, evolution, has 
made rapid advancement as a study during the century. That there has been 
an adaptation to conditions in some respects, as contended by Mr. Darwin 
and his followers, must be correct. The oak and other species of trees must 
have been formed before mistletoe and other parasites could grow on them. 
In the common Dodder — species of Cuscuta — the seeds germinate in the 
ground like ordinary plants. As soon as they find something to attach them- 
selves to, they cut loose from mother earth and live wholly on the .host. As 
a speculation it seems plausible that all parasites have arisen in this way. 
Some, like the mistletoe, having the power, at. length, to have their seeds 
germinate on the host-plant, have left their terrestrial origin in the past 
uncertain. A number of parasites, however, do not seem to live wholly on 



OUTLINE OF A WHITE DOGWOOD FLOWER 

(Comus florida), showing bud-scales 

DEVELOPED TO BRACTS. 



110 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 



the plants they attach themselves to. These are usually destitute of green 
color. The Indian pipe, snow plant of the Pacific Coast, and Squaw root of 
the Eastern States are examples ; the former called ghost-flower from its pale- 
ness. These plants have little carbonaceous matter in their structure, and 
hence are regarded as having formed a kind of partnership with fungi. This 
is known now as symbiosis, or living together of dissimilar organisms, each 
dependent mutually. The fungus and the flowering plant in these cases are 
necessary to the existence of each other. They demand nitrogen instead of 
carbonhydroids. The Squaw root, Conopholis Americana, though attached to 
the subterranean portions of the trunks of trees, is probably sustained by 
the fungus material in the old bark, or even in the wood, rather than by the 
ordinary food of flowering plants. Lichens, as it is now well known, are a 
compound of fungi and water weeds (algse), and this doctrine of symbiosis 

is regarded as one of the great advances of the 
century. 

It is but fair to say that the doctrine of evo- 
lution by the influence of external conditions in 
the change of form, though widely accepted at 
this time, is not without strong opponents, who 
point to the occasional development or suppres- 
sion of parts on the same plant, though the exter- 
nal conditions must be the same. For instance, 
there are flowers that have all their parts regu- 
lar, as in the petals of a buttercup ; and irregular, 
as in the snap-dragon or fox-glove. But it has 
been noted that irregular flowers have pendulous 
stalks, while the regular ones are usually erect. 
But once in a while, on the same plant, flowers 
normally drooping will become erect. In these 
cases the flowers are regular. In the wild snap- 
dragon or yellow toad-flax, Linaria vulgaris, one 
of the petals is developed into a long spur ; the 
other four petals have, in early life, become con- 
nate and transformed into parts of the flower 
wholly unlike ordinary petals. But now and then 
the original petals will all develop spurs, result- 
ing in the condition technically known as peloria. 
Linnaeus gave this name to this condition be- 
cause it was supposed to be " monstrous," or some- 
thing opposed to law and order. Through the 
advance in morphological botany we have learned 
to regard it as the result of some normal law of 
development, innate to the plant, and which could 
as well be the regular as the occasional condition. 
In other words, there is no reason why Nature 
might not make the five-spurred flower as continuous in a wild snap-dragon 
as in a columbine. Many similar facts are used by those who question the 
Darwinian law of development. 

That nutrition has more to do in the evolution of form than external 




Ma 




YELLOW TOAD-FLAX. 

Flower in the peloria state. 



STORY OF PLANT AND FLOWER 



111 



forces has received much aid, as a theory, from the advance during recent 
times of a study of the separate sexes of flowers. On coniferous trees, 
notably the firs, pines, and spruces, the male and female flowers are pro- 
duced separately. The female, which finally yield the cones, are always 
borne on the most vigorous branches. When these branches have their 
supply of nutrition shortened and become weak, only male flowers are pro- 
duced. On the other hand, 
branches normally weak 
will at times gain increased 
strength, and then the male 
flowers give female ones. 
This is often seen in corn 
fields. The generally weak 
tassel will have grains of 
corn through it. It is not 
infrequent to find what 
should normally be perfect 
ears on stalks weaker than 
usual. In these cases the 
upper portion of the ear will 
have male flowers only. 

In connection with the 
doctrine of development, 
much attention' has been 
given during the century 
to fertilization of flowers 
and the agency of insects 
in connection therewith. 
On the one hand it is con- 
tended that in all probability the flowers in the earlier periods of the world's 
history had neither color nor fragrance. In this condition they were self-fer- 
tilizers, that is, were fecundated by their own pollen. In modern phraseology 
they were in and in breeders. When the struggle for existence became neces- 
sary, those which could get a cross with outside races became more vigorous in 
their progeny, and thus had an advantage in the struggle. In brief, without an 
occasional introduction of new blood, as it might be termed, there was danger 
of a race dying out. To support this view, Mr. Darwin published the result 
of a number of experiments. Many of them favored either side, but the aver- 
age was in favor of the view that crossing was advantageous. Against this it 
has been urged that an average in such cases is not conclusive. If a num- 
ber, though the minor number of cases, showed superiority by close breeding 
in his limited experiments, a new set of observations might have changed the 
averages, so as to make the minor figures in one instance the major in others. 
Again, it is contended that to increase a plant by other means than by seeds 
must be the closest kind of reproduction ; yet some plants, coeval with the 
history of man, have been continued by offsets and are as strong and vigor- 
ous as ever. The Banana is an illustration. Under cultivation it produces 
only seedless fruits. It is raised wholly from young suckers or offsets from 
the roots. Mythology gives it a prominent place in the Garden of Eden, 
and its botanical name, Mnsa paradisiaca, originated in this legend. 




GRAINED CORN-TASSEL. 



112 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



Though much has been recorded in this line to weaken the force of the 
speculations that flowers late in the history of the earth developed color and 
sweet secretions in order to attract insects to aid in cross-fertilization, they 
are strongly supported by the fact that a large number of species, notably of 
orchids, are seldom fertilized without insect aid in pollination. 

But there are anomalies even here. Some plants capture and literally eat 
the insects that should be regarded as their benefactors. These are classified 
as insectivorous plants. Some seem to catch the insects in mere sport, while 
in the act of conveying pollen to them. These are known as cruel plants. 
There are numerous illustrations of this among the families of Asclepias and 

Apocynum, the milk-weed fam- 
ily. In our gardens a Brazil- 
ian climber, Arauga, or Physi- 
anthus albens, is frequently 
grown for its waxy flowers 
and delicious odor, but the 
treacherous blossoms are fre- 
quently strung with the in- 
sects it has caught. 

In the northern part of 
America a common wild flower 
of one of these families, Apocy- 
num androsmcefolium, has this 
insect-catching habit. Numer- 
ous small insects meet death, 
and hang to the flowers like 
scalps to the wild Indian. 

Considerable advance has 
been made in vegetable physi- 
ologjr, though no one has as 
yet been able to reach the ori- 
gin of the life-power in plants. 
The power that enables an oak 
to maintain its huge branches 
in a horizontal direction, or 
that can lift or overturn huge 
rocks, or split them apart as 
the lightning rifts a tree trunk, is yet unknown. On the opposite page is an 
illustration of a circumstance frequently observed, wherein even a delicate 
root fibre can pierce a potato or other structures. 

Possibly the greatest botanical advance of the century is in relation to 
cryptogamic plants, those low organisms which as mildews and moulds are 
most familiar to people generally. As microscopes increase in power, new 
forms are discovered. Over forty thousand species have already been described, 
and we may fairly say that there are nearly half as many forms of vegetable 
life invisible to the naked eye as can be seen by our unaided visual organs. 
Their wants and behaviors are very much the same as in the flowering plants 
or higher orders, as they are usually termed. But there is one great difference 
in this, that they feed mainly on nitrogen, and have no use for carbon. They 




BANANA FLOWERS. 



STORY OF PLANT AND FLOWER 



113 




THE CRUEL-PLANT. 

Butterfly caught in the flower. 



care little for light, but yet have an upward tendency under certain 
forms, as do those which seek the light. The agarics that revel in the dark- 
ness of a coal mine, yet curve upward 
as heartily as a corn sprout in the 
open air. Just as in flowering plants, 
also, they are mostly innocuous, and 
indeed many absolutely beneficial to 
man, a very small portion only being 
poisonous, or connected with the dis- 
eases of the human race. Even in 
these cases their power is closely 
guarded by nature. The spores of 
fungi are found to require such a nice 
combination of conditions before they 
germinate, that, unless these occur, 
they will retain their vegetative power 
many years in a state of absolute rest. The mycelium of the mushroom, as the 
real plant — the cobwebby portion under ground — only starts to grow when 
just so many degrees of heat, neither more nor less, with just so much mois- 
ture, and the proper food, are all 
at hand together ; and large num- 
bers are known to be very select 
in the kind of food they will 
make nse of at all. One genus, 
known as Cordyceps, will only 
start when the spore comes in 
contact with the head of a cater- 
pillar. And various species of 
the genus will avoid a kind of 
caterpillar that another would 
enjoy. In our own country we 
have one that feeds on the larvae 
of the May Beetle, and is known 
as Cordyceps Melolonthce. In 
Australia is a very pretty spe- 
cies, which takes on the appear- 
ance of the antlers of a deer. 
This is known as Cordyceps An- 
dreics/'/'. 

The most minute of these are, 
known as microbes. They are 
chiefly composed of a single cell, 
in the midst of which is the pro- 
toplasm, or material in which 
life resides, but the exact na- 
ture of which is still a mys- 
tery. 

One of the most useful and 
fascinating studies in modern times is Geographical Botany. It is found to 




OLD POTATO PENETRATED BY ROOTLET WITH 
A NEW POTATO. 



114 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 



have a close relation to the history of man, and to the changes which have 
occurred on the surface of the earth. Plants fol- 
low man wherever he wanders ; and though every 
other trace of man should be abolished on the 
American continent, the plants that came with 
him from the Old World would enable the future 
historian to follow his tracks here pretty well. 
No one has any historical evidence that what is 
now the Pacific Ocean was once land, and that 
the area between the Pacific Ocean and the Mis- 
sissippi was once a huge sea, but botany tells the 
plain story. Only for botany we should not 
know that the land now serving as the poles was 
once within the tropics ; and mainly by fossil 
gum trees on the American continent, and the 
existence still of a few plants common to Aus- 
tralia, have we the knowledge of some land con- 
nection between these distant shores. Island 
floras, some of the species of which are now 
found only in very limited areas, tell of large 
tracts submerged of which only the mountain 
peaks are left as small islands, lonely in a wide 
expanse of water, while other islands, with only 
a limited number of well known species, tell of 
new upheavals within modern times. 

It is in these 
lines chiefly 
that botany has 
advanced dur- 
ing the cen- 
tury. Herbari- 
ums for dry and 
botanic gar- 
dens for living plants are essential. The latter are not as necessary to the 
study as formerly, as the facilities for travel bring the votaries of the science 
to distant places in a short time. Nature furnishes the living material for 
study at a less outlay of time and money than in the old way of growing the 
plants for the purpose. Pew modern botanic gardens have the fame of those 
of the past. It is the great Herbarium of Kew, rather than the living plants, 
that makes that famous spot the great school for botany to-day. In our own 
country, the Herbariums of Cambridge, Mass. ; Columbia College, New York ; 
the National at Washington ; and that of the Academy of Natural Sciences 
of Philadelphia, are the most famous in America. 





a fungus {Cordyceps Aadrewsii) growing from the head 

OF A CATERPILLAR. 



PROGRESS OF WOMEN WITHIN THE CENTURY 

By MARY ELIZABETH LEASE, 

Ex-President Kansas State Board of Charities. 

The whole woman question may be briefly summed up as a century-old 
struggle between conservatism and progress. Women are moving irregularly, 
and perhaps illogically, along certain lines of development toward a point 
that will probably be reached ; while conservatism, halting and fearful, is 
struggling blindly to hold points and maintain lines that must be given up. 

Unfortunately for the rapidity of women's advancement, women them- 
selves have no thoroughness, no clearness, as to the fundamental cause of 
their grievances or the ends to be attained, and are not yet alive to a con- 
sciousness of the fact that the question of woman's rights is simply and 
purely a question of human rights, the basic solution of which, on the broad 
plane of justice, will solve all the social, political, and industrial problems of 
which the woman question forms a part. 

The time when woman suffered silently and toiled patiently without once 
questioning the justice of her lot has happily passed forever. Confusion and 
antagonism are engendered because of misunderstanding of the real move- 
ment. Women are consciously or unconsciously struggling for that selfhood 
which has hitherto been denied them, and are seeking for opportunity to 
develop that personality which Browning, Ruskin, and other broad thinkers 
declare " is the good of the race." The most discouraging feature of the 
situation is the fact that women as a whole do not realize that a politically 
inferior class is a degraded class ; a disfranchised class, an oppressed class ; 
and that her economic dependence upon man is the basic cause of her 
inferiority. 

The grievances openly proclaimed by the advocates of woman suffrage as 
causes of hostility are too frequently childish, unreasonable, and unworthy 
of serious attention. In the majority of cases they centre around some 
fancied wrong that is a result rather than a cause. The keynote not only to 
the woman question, but to the labor question may be found in the words of 
that deep thinker and able writer, August Bebel : " The basis of all oppres- 
sion is economic dependence upon the oppressor." The widespread discon- 
tent with present social conditions is an augury of hope for the future. 
There is no element in the unrest which need excite grave apprehension. 
Thoughtful people perceive clearly that women are intensely human, nothing 
more, and that as human beings they are entitled not only to food, clothes, 
and shelter, but to an opportunity for development. 

It is only as we are familiar with the oppression that has been the common 
lot of women since the beginning of time that we can realize that her lot has 
been sweetened, her condition ameliorated, and her progress within the cen- 
tury marvelous indeed. The woman question, historically considered, con- 
tains all the physical subjugation and consequent inferiority which consti- 
tuted all the differentiation between the physical and mental powers of men 



116 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

and women. It contains all the humiliation, uncertainty, and ultimate hope 
of her future. The history of the woman question is analogous with the 
history of the labor question, with the difference that woman slavery had its 
origin in the peculiarities of her sexual being, while the laborer's slavery 
began when he was robbed of the land which is the birthright of every 
human being. It will be seen, therefore, that woman's slavery antedates the 
thralldom of the thrall, and " was more humiliating, more degrading, because 
she was treated and ' regarded by the laborer as his servant, his inferior." 
This condition largely prevails among laborers to-day, and was indirectly 
given utterance to a few weeks ago, when some of the members of the 
American Federation of Labor formulated a traditional resolution demanding 
that " women be excluded from all public work and relegated to the home," — 
a demand that would be to some extent reasonable, and no doubt acceptable, 
to the great army of working-women, had the chivalrous laborers who formu- 
lated the demand the ability and industry to provide a home for the women 
whom they would render paupers by deprivation of work, and for the chil- 
dren for whom their fathers were unable to provide. It is gratifying to 
know that this resolution was lost in the committee room, and that its 
formulation was greeted by the press of the whole country with a storm of 
deserved disapproval. 

Inasmuch as the rapidly increasing number of bread-winners among women 
makes it evident that men are either unable or incompetent to provide for 
them, it remains for the working-women of the country to formulate a reso- 
lution demanding that men be excluded from all work that has hitherto been 
considered as belonging to or peculiarly adapted to women. What an army 
of mosquito-legged men from the eating-houses, laundries, and dry-goods 
establishments would rise up to proclaim the idiocy of women and protest 
against such injustice ! 

On the threshold of the world's morning, says a distinguished writer and 
worker in the German Reichstag of to-day, we may correctly assume that 
woman was man's equal in mental and physical power. But she became his 
inferior physically, and consequently dependent upon his bounty, during 
periods of pregnancy, childbirth, and child-rearing, when her helplessness 
forced her to look to him for food and shelter. In the childhood of the race 
might made right ; brute strength was the standard of superiority ; the 
struggle for existence was crude and savage ; and thus this occasional help- 
lessness became the manner of her bondage. 

That nature is primarily responsible for the centuries of woman's enslave- 
ment there can be no doubt. And as nature's laws are unchanging, the 
advocates of woman's political advancement would do well to remember that 
woman's greatest importance as a public factor can only begin when the 
function of motherhood ceases. " In a real sense, as a factory is meant to 
turn out locomotives or clocks, the machinery of nature is designed in the 
last resort to turn out mothers. Life to the human species is not a random 
series of random efforts ; its course is set as rigidly as the pathway of the 
stars ; its laws are as immutable as the laws of the Medes and Persians." 
(Drummond's Ascent of Man.) 

Nature's great work for the individual is reproduction and care of the 
species. The first, Drummond terms the cosmic process ; the second, the 



PROGRESS OF WOMEN WITHIN THE CENTURY 



117 



moral process. Statistics show that one child out of every three dies before 
maturity, and nature's task is incomplete unless at least two children be 
reared to the adult age by every family. Every couple, then, at marriage, 
assumes the responsibility to society and posterity of bringing three children 
into the world. Woman's part in the stupendous economy of nature is first 
and distinctively most important, that of motherhood. She can only pay her 
debt to nature, fulfill her mission to the world, and discharge her obligations 




MARY ELIZABETH LEASE 



to humanity by faithfully discharging the duties of motherhood. But as the 
function of motherhood ceases when the woman is in the prime of life, 
ripened by experience and fortified by maternal ties, she may yet have ample 
opportunity to exert her far-reaching influence in public work when she has 
exemplified in her own life the words, Home, Love, Mother. And there is, 
there can be, no rational objection to granting the fullest suffrage to woman 
at this period. 

Having located the basic cause of her dependence, it will be seen that the 
only solution possible for the complete emancipation and mental and physi- 
cal development of woman is to render her, through industrial freedom, so 
economically independent in every way of man's grudging bounty that she 



118 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

will scorn his pity, resent his abuse, and claim her right to fullest individual- 
ity and opportunity as a human being. 

For countless ages women were separated from the world by a barrier as 
effective as the myriad-miled wall of China; vacillating between the con- 
dition of slave and superintendent of the kitchen ; taught nothing but those 
flimsy accomplishments that would catch the eye of the prospective husband 
and master; sneered at, ridiculed, and abused whenever she attempted to 
cross the line which hoary prophets and patriarchal slaveholders had marked 
across her path; subject to man's whim and caprice; her physical develop- 
ment, in time, became meagre and crippled. And as her mental faculties 
were repressed and imprisoned in the narrowest circle of feminine opinions, 
it became difficult for her to rise above the most commonplace trivialities of 
life. Thus it came about that the term ''Weaker Sex," originally used to 
convey only the acknowledged truth that women are inferior to men in 
physical strength, came to include the mind as well as body. Be this as it 
may, the position of women for long centuries was inevitably one of extreme 
cruelty and oppression. Countless bitter and unnecessary limitations hedged 
her pathway and obstructed her development from the cradle to the grave. 
It is not to be wondered at that she in time became so inured to her degrad- 
ing servitude as to accept it as her natural position. Madame De Stael has 
truly said, " Of all the gifts and faculties which nature has lavishly bestowed 
upon woman, she has been allowed to exercise fully but one, the faculty to 
suffer." The extent of this suffering and the deteriorating influence which 
it has exerted upon the race can never be estimated till Finis is written to 
the story of humanity. 

In the noonday of Grecian power and learning, woman trod not beside 
man as helpmate and companion, but followed as his slave. Demosthenes 
defines the wife as the " bearer of children, the faithful watch-dog who 
guards the house for her master." At the Council of Macon, held in the 
sixth century, the question of the soul and humanity of women was gravely 
weighed and debated, profound doctors of theology maintaining that " woman 
is not a subject but an object for man's use and pleasure." For centuries 
theological divines whetted their wit on helpless woman ; and the church in 
holy zeal persecuted the woman who was guilty of a fault as a " daughter of 
the devil," and held her up to public contumely as the concentration of all 
evil. 

Christianity, indeed, offered emancipation to women. It proclaimed a 
startling doctrine, — the equality of the rich and the poor, the weak and the 
strong, in the sight of God the Father. And it became evident that such 
teachings would inevitably break down the barriers of class and caste, 
eliminate injustice, and usher in a time when all should stand equal before 
the law. But alas, the world, with the exception of isolated and individual 
instances, has never been offered an opportunity to test the efficacy of the 
all-corrective principles of the religion which Christ gave to the world. The 
repression of women biased the reformatory tendencies of Christianity, and 
rendered it as ineffective as a medium of relief to the oppressed as our one- 
sided political system of to-day. Christianity, under masculine domination, 
was lost in the rubbish of churchianity, which, professing but failing to prac- 
tice the religion of Christ, has held woman in the same contempt in which 



PROGRESS OF WOMEN WITHIN THE CENTURY 



119 



she has been held by all the ancient and idolatrous religions of the world. 
Yet despite the fact that the great Master, were He to come to-day, would 
scarcely recognize in the churches a trace of the code which He lived and 
died to exemplify, it must not be forgotten that the vital principle of religion 
never dies. It eventually attains fullest development, and becomes identified 
with the progress of civilization and the highest purpose of a people. There- 
fore, we may reverently believe 
that in the ultimate triumph and 
rehabilitation of practical Chris- 
tianity lies the hope of the op- 
pressed, and true liberty not only 
for women, but for every human 
being. 

Even now the mists are lifting. 
The great change in the position 
of women — legal, social, and edu- 
cational — within a hundred years 
is breaking even the hard shell of 
orthodox usage. Whole denomi- 
nations have dropped the word 
* l obey " from the marriage service. 
Many ministers frequently omit 
it, or, if administered, it is pro- 
nounced by the bride with mental 
reservation and looked upon as a 
word that has only the most re- 
mote and shadowy significance. 
The new wine is breaking the old 
bottles; the spirit of the nine- 
teenth century is too progressive 
for the usages and traditions of 
the eleventh century. Modern churchianity, realizing that women constitute 
three fourths of its membership, no longer wages a merciless warfare upon 
them. It has relaxed its Pauline grip upon her throat, " I suffer not a 
woman to speak in the churches." And the more advanced theological 
bodies have offered her the intellectual hospitality of the pulpit, where her 
eloquence is a pleasing change to those who have grown tired of preachers' 
platitudes. Clerical decrees are no longer hurled at her defenseless head. 
The doors of churches, schools, and colleges are swinging wide at her 
approach, though they sometimes creak on their hinges. The ministers no 
longer openly advocate that the gates of opportunity be bolted and barred 
against her. There is everything to stimulate hope ; the wings of feminine 
nature have expanded till a return to the chrysalis is impossible. 

It is true that a very large number yet profess to believe that a woman 
fulfills her whole mission in the world when she makes herself as pretty and 
agreeable as possible, and devotes all her time and attention to the discharge 
of domestic duties. But there has been a wonderful modification of opinion 
since Schopenhauer declared that "woman is not called to great things. 
She pays her debt to life by the throes of birth, care of the children, and 




120 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

subjection to her husband." Two things have tended to bring about this 
modification of opinion ; the broader education and increased opportunities 
for development attendant upon the growth of individual liberty and repub- 
lican forms of government ; and the capability of self-maintenance due to 
improved mechanical appliances. It is not mere inclination on the part of 
the individual, nor is it the voice of the agitator, that is bringing about these 
changes ; it is the irresistible logic of events. 

One hundred years ago the education of women in the most progressive 
and wealthy families went little beyond reading and writing. In 1819, when 
Mrs. Emma Willard issued an address to the members of the New York 
legislature advocating the endowment of an institution for the higher 
education of women, there was not a college in the country for girls. In 
1892, the colleges of the United States numbered more than 50,000 female 
students. In 1888, the ratio of female students to the whole number of 
students pursuing a higher course of education in universities and colleges 
in this country was 29.3 per centum, or a little more than one fourth. At 
the same time the ratio in England was 11 per centum ; in France, 2 per 
centum ; while in Germany, Austria, and Italy the ratio was so slight as to 
be but a mere fraction of 1 per centum. 

Such a thing as a female president of a college was unknown and probably 
undreamed of in the eighteenth century ; but we learn from the Report of 
the Commissioner of Education for 1887-88 that there are in the United 
States forty-two colleges and institutions for the superior instruction of 
women having a woman for president. 

In the high and secondary schools, in 1888, over one half of the students 
were girls. And in the same year, tabulated statistics reveal that 63 per 
centum of the teachers were women. And this percentage will become 
greater and greater as we grasp the truth that woman is, by gift of greater 
intuition and sympathy, the natural instructor of the human race. The 
salaries paid to women teachers are grossly unfair when compared to the 
pay of male teachers for the same or less work. But as the difference in 
compensation is growing smaller every decade, there is at least room for hope 
that this injustice will soon be righted. 

The law of evolution is the discoverer and formulator of woman's advance- 
ment. The invention and use of gunpowder placed the peasant on an equal 
war-footing with the mailed knight. The enormous increase in mechanical 
appliances and productive machinery has taken woman out of the rank of 
unpaid menials, has given her leisure for mental development, opportunity 
to receive recompense for toil, and is largely breaking down the physical 
barriers which had hitherto been considered unsurmountable. Statistics 
show that there are forms of machinery in the operation of which the 
production of a woman is even greater than that of a man, thus furnishing 
an actual proof of the falsity of the idea that woman is incapacitated for 
competition with man in the physical world. And the trend of events is 
indicated by the statistics given in the Report of the Commissioner of Labor, 
from which we learn that in some trades and professions the percentage of 
women engaged has increased fivefold in the last decade. 

While woman's work has always been a recognized factor in the world's 
progress, yet her admittance to the field of remunerative work is limited to 



PROGRESS OF WOMEN WITHIN THE CENTURY 



121 



the last one hundred years ; is, in fact, the prominent feature of the nine- 
teenth century. There is overwhelming evidence that her work in every 
department to which she has been admitted is as capable, acceptable, and in 
every way as faithfully performed as the work of her brother man. In the 
last century it is estimated that not more than 1 per centum of artists and 
teachers of art were women ; while in 1890 women comprised 48.08 per 
centum, or nearly one half of that profession. Nearly the same proportion 
of increase is found in the ranks of teachers and musicians, — women now 
forming over 60 per centum of the teachers of the United States. 

There are now about three million women and girls in this country who 
earn their own livelihood. And the eleventh census reveals the startling 
information that in the city of New York there are twenty-seven thousand 
men who are supported by their wives. Yet these men, useless to society, a 
burden to the women who support them, are permitted the immunities and 
privileges of law and custom, while women have equality only in the duties 
and punishments. 

At the beginning of the eighteenth century there were but few occupations 
in which women were permitted to engage. Their abilities and ambitions 
were restricted to the school and the home. In the latter they received food 
and shelter as compensation ; in the former, but one half or one third the 
salary allowed to male teachers. The first noticeable change in woman's 
condition, when she became something more than a mere household drudge, 
whose busy hands carded and wove, 
spun and knit, the family supply of 
cloth, dates from the first bale of cot- 
ton grown in this country in the early 
years of the eighteenth century. In 
that bale of cotton lay the seeds of not 
only a new movement in labor, but the 
beginning of a new epoch for woman, 
in which her work and wages were des- 
tined to take coherent shape and form. 
In all industrial progress since that 
time women have taken an active part 
while receiving a meagre share of the 
product. Forced by the course of events 
to emerge from seclusion and repres- 
sion, she has passed from one stage of 
development to another, always a step 
or two behind man in the progress 
of social evolution, till the close of 
the nineteenth century reveals myriad 

changes and the actual realization of Tennyson's prophetic lines in the 
"Princess," "We have prudes for proctors, dowagers for deans." 

One hundred years ago it was the duty of a woman to efface herself. She 
was expected to make of herself a mental blank-book upon which her hus- 
band might inscribe what he would. Thus it is only lately that women have 
begun actively to compete with men in expression of any kind. Indeed, pre- 
vious to that time, with a few notable exceptions, they were denied recog- 




GEORGE ELIOT. 



122 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 

nition of individual life. The woman, if unmarried, was merged in the 
family, or, if married, merged in the husband. Her name, her religion, her 
gods, were changed on marriage. But, married or single, the absorption 
was complete. So it has happened that woman, throbbing with poetic sym- 
pathy, has, with the exception of Sappho, produced less high and unmis- 
takable poetry than man. With more harmony, more music in her nature, 
her very soul attuned to symphony and rhythm, she has been little known 
as a composer. With far vision and clear literary insight, she has been 
suppressed in art and literature. George Eliot gave her sublime literary 
productions to the world under a masculine nom de plume, because of the 
prejudice of even that not remote day. Fanny Mendelssohn was compelled 
by her family to publish her musical compositions as her brother's. Mary 
Somerville met only discouragement and ridicule in her mathematical studies. 
In every sphere, in every department of science and art, abuse, injustice, and 
the croaking of reactionary frogs have greeted each step of her upward way. 
The wonder is, then, not that she has accomplished so little, but that she is 
not in the same condition to-day that she was when Paul thrust a gag in her 
mouth in the shape of a Corinthian text, " And if a woman would learn any- 
thing, let her ask her husband at home." It will be seen, therefore, that 
the oft-repeated assertion that women have not given to the world as much 
evidence of genius as men is a Lilliputian assertion tainted somewhat with 
envy. " There has been no Shakespeare among women," says the advocates 
of man's supremacy. With all the world as their own, and the gates of 
boundless opportunities swinging wide, there has been but one Shakespeare 
among men. It has been asserted that George Eliot is the Shakespeare 
among women and Mrs. Browning the counterpart of Bacon. But their 
immortality has not been tested.- ' They lived but a little while ago. But 
there is one woman, at least, who has established her claim thoroughly, and 
whose genius twenty -five centuries have tested. Sappho is truly immortal. 
Her fame and genius have been sealed by the approval of all the great 
literati of the centuries. Coleridge, who occupies no uncertain place in the 
world of letters, says of her, "Of all the poets of the world, of all the 
illustrious artists of all literature, Sappho is the one whose every word 
has a peculiar and unmistakable poetic perfume, a seal of absolute perfection 
and illimitable grace." Swinburne, the greatest living master in the world 
of verbal music, declares that, "Her verses are the supreme success, the 
final achievement, of poetic art." Sappho's claim to immortality exceeds 
that of Shakespeare's by twenty-three hundred years. 

Men, viewing the literary productions of women, are apt to give them the 
color and bias of masculine thought. As instance the poetic critic of a 
New York periodical, who wantonly affronts the gifted author of " Poems 
of Passion " by declaring that her " fervent verses are but the burning of 
unseemly stubble that fails to give forth light or heat." Yet Ella Wheeler 
Wilcox, all fair-minded critics will admit, has won a place in the ranks of 
poetic genius. Her poems throb with human sympathy, and from the exalted 
plane of her splendid womanhood she reaches down, fulfilling the law of 
Christly service, to lift up the fallen and soothe and bind the bruised and 
bleeding. Such masculine criticism is dying out, but it has not been uncom- 
mon in the past. Mrs. Browning and Jane Austen were accused of " breaking 



PROGRESS OF WOMEN WITHIN THE CENTURY 



123 



down by their writings the safeguards of society," and they were admonished 
to " cease their literary efforts and devote themselves to sewing and washing 
dishes if they would retain the chivalrous respect of men." "Jane Eyre" 
was pronounced too immoral to be ranked as decent literature. " Adam Bede " 
was classed as the "vile outpourings of a lewd woman's mind." Yet Charlotte 
Bronte, George Eliot, Mrs. Browning, and Jane Austen have won an exalted 
and enviable place in the ranks of literature. Their writings have thrilled, 
uplifted, and sweetened humanity. 

The test of literary genius is to create a character of universal acceptance. 
The record of half a century has but one world-wide, world-known character 
of that kind. That character was created by a woman. In all literature, no 
book since the Bible has been so widely circulated, so extensively translated, 
or has so thoroughly commanded the profound attention of all classes as 
Harriet Beecher Stowe's " Uncle Tom's Cabin." Mrs. Stowe impressed her 
genius upon the race and time, and marked a new epoch for freedom. Pre- 
vious to the publication of her book only a few men recognized slavery as 
wrong, but a woman's sympathetic heart and throbbing genius laid bare the 
evil and disclosed to a horrified world 
the wrong underlying slavery. 

In philanthropy and the domain of 
morals there is none who is doing more 
heroic and effective work than Mrs. Eliz- 
abeth B. Grannis. She deals not with 
theories, but with real conditions. Her 
sympathies, her broad work, her mani- 
fold charities, go out to flesh and blood, 
men and women. She has the intuitive 
faculty of probing deep into human na- 
ture, leading those she would reform to 
mourn real defects, rejoice in real victo- 
ries, and hope and struggle for better 
things. 

The constantly broadening sphere of 
woman's usefulness is in a large mea- 
sure due to the organized forms of intel- 
lectual activity among women known 
as clubs. Half a century ago club-life 

for women was unknown. Their social sympathies were limited to the politi- 
cal party that claimed the franchise of their male relatives, or the church 
at whose shrine the women worshiped. But so rapid has been woman's 
development in this direction that to-day women's clubs form a chain from 
ocean to ocean, binding them as one great whole. The effect upon the mem- 
bers is magical ; nature is enlarged ; charity broadened ; capacity for judg- 
ment increased ; and hitherto unsuspected faculties are called into life and 
power. 

The first organized demand by women for political recognition in the 
United States was made in 1848, at what was known as the Seneca Falls 
Convention. Ridiculed, persecuted, kicked like a football from one genera- 
tion to another, this brave demand for political recognition was destined to 




PKANCES WIT.T.ARD. 



124 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

become an agency that wonld work a peaceful revolution. That the move- 
ment is progressing, and will eventually succeed, is evinced by the record of 
half a century. In that time school suffrage has been granted in twenty-three 
States and Territories, partial suffrage for public improvements in three 
States, municipal suffrage in one, and in four States full political equality. 
Wyoming was the first State to accord citzenship to her women, and she bears 
testimony to its efficacy in the progress, honor, and sobriety of her people. In 
1893, the Wyoming state legislature passed resolutions highly commendatory 
of woman suffrage and its results, and among other things said, " We point 
with pride to the fact that after nearly twenty-five years of woman suffrage, 
not one county in Wyoming has a poor-house, that our jails are almost empty, 
and crime, except that by strangers in the State, is almost unknown." 

From the banks of the far-off Volga come the good tidings that even Russia 
is preparing to take a great step in advance by granting to women many legal 
and political privileges now enjoyed only by men. England granted muni- 
cipal suffrage to women a quarter of a century ago, and has more recently 
granted partial parliamentary suffrage. And to the influence of English law, 
more particularly the Married Women's Act, is largely due the betterment of 
the legal status of women throughout the world. In England we find women 
prominent in art, literature, politics, the school and the church. While in 
this country the middle classes have heretofore carried on the suffrage agita- 
tion, in England it finds active workers among the peerage. 

Woman in politics meets with the opposition of job politicians, but she 
realizes that every step of her progress, from the unveiling of her face to a 
seat in the legislature of a State, has been taken in the face of fierce opposi- 
tion and in violation of conventionalities and customs. Undismayed she 
advances for the ultimate betterment of humanity. 

The historian of the future will record the nineteenth century as the Re- 
naissance of womankind. And the ultimate effect upon the human race of 
having individuals, not servants, as mothers will surpas's the progress made 
in science and in art. 

The eighteenth century found woman an appendage ; the nineteenth trans- 
formed her into an individual. The wonderful altruistic twentieth century, 
whose dawn even now is breaking, will so develop this individuality that 
women will contend for all the rights of the individual, cooperating with the 
nation in the fulfillment of its mission, and with the world in the development 
of the eternal law of progress. 

"Through the harsh voices of our day 
A low, sweet prelude finds its way ; 
Through clouds of doubt and storms of fear 
A light is breaking calm and clear." 



THE CENTURY'S TEXTILE PROGRESS 

By ROBERT P. HAINS, 

Examiner of Textiles, U. S. Patent Office. 

Antiquity conceals nothing more completely than the origin of the textile 
industry. Back in the dark ages and beyond authentic records, evidence is 
furnished that this art was not unknown. Egyptian mummies shrouded in 
fine linen fabrics give their silent testimony of ancient knowledge, but when 
or where the art had its inception still remains wrapped in mystery. Nearly 
every nation of the earth lays claim to its invention at some epoch in tradi- 
tional existence. Thus the Chinese attribute it to the wife of their first 
emperor, the Egyptians to Isis, the Greeks to Minerva ; but probably it had 
its birth in the Orient, where the making of cloth was known and practiced 
from the earliest times. 

Whatever the merits of rival claimants, certain it is that for many cen- 
turies the simple distaff and spindle were the only instruments used for 
spinning, while the warp and weft were woven together by hand implements 
not less primitive in structure. 

In the first spinning device, a mass of fibre was arranged on a forked stick, 
and, as drawn therefrom by hand, it was twisted between the fingers and 
wound on a spindle. During the reign of Henry VIII. of England, however, 
the spinning-wheel replaced the distaff and spindle, and in every cottage and 
palace it became an indispensable article of household equipment. The young 
women in all walks of life were taught to spin. Spinning became the female 
occupation of the age, and it is interesting to note that the modern term 
spinster, meaning an unmarried woman of advanced age, here had its origin. 

The spinning-wheel, though superior to the distaff and spindle, was yet a 
crude machine. It consisted of a stand on which was mounted in horizontal 
bearings a spindle driven by a band from a large wheel propelled by hand or 
foot, and as twist was imparted to the fibre drawn through the fingers, the 
resulting yarn was wound on the spindle. 

The art of .weaving was not more advanced. It is true that the middle of 
the eighteenth century found the hand loom developed from the original 
Indian structure to contain many of the essentials of the modern power 
loom. It embodied the heddles, the lay, the take-up and let-off beams, the 
shuttle for passing the weft, and in 1740, John Kay added the fly shuttle 
motion, whereby the shuttle was thrown through the shed by a sudden pull 
on the picking stick ; then in 1760, Robert Kay, son of John Kay, invented 
the drop box, whereby several colors of filling might be employed. 

Brilliant as these achievements were, the hand loom remained the crude 
embodiment of the simple principles of weaving until near the dawn of the 
nineteenth century, when, by the invention of Cartwright, a period of 
development was introduced in all lines of textile manufacture unsurpassed 
in the annals of industrial progress. The first great stride, and that which 
•opened the door for further advance, was the creation of the spinning-jenny, 



126 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 




DISTAFF AND SPINDLE. 



in England, by Hargreaves, about 1767, whereby eight or ten yarns could be 
spun at one time. Drawing rollers were subsequently added by Arkwright, 
and then traverse motion was given the bobbins in 
order to automatically build the yarn into a cop. 
It has developed since that the drawing-rollers con- 
stituted one of the most important fundamental im- 
provements in the spinning art. Their function was 
to draw out the fibres into a proper size of roving, 
and to feed this to be spun. Without them the 
modern spinning-frame would not have been possi- 
ble. Arkwright's drawing-rollers and Hargreaves's 
spinning-jenny combined under the invention of 
Crompton to produce, in principle at least, the mod- 
ern spinning-mule. 

Fairly good machines were thus provided on the 
advent of the nineteenth century for spinning unlim- 
ited quantities of yarn, but this, in turn, required 
proper loom structures to use the same and a cor- 
responding supply of raw material. Inventive genius was abroad, and the 
necessity met by Eli Whitney, who, while at the home of General Greene, 
of Georgia, built the first practical machine for separating cotton fibre from 
its seed. 

Whitney's gin was constructed on the broad and simple principle that cot- 
ton fibre could be drawn through a smaller space than the attached seed, and 
this same principle is the soul and spirit of every saw-gin of the present day. 
Prior to Whitney's gin, cotton fibre was separated from the seed by hand, a. 
day's work being represented by two or three pounds of cleaned fibre. The 
daily product of the gin now reaches between three and four thousand pounds. 
Such figures demonstrate the important position taken by the cotton gin 
among the developing agents of the cotton 
growing States. It has rendered possible 
and profitable the cultivation of large dis- 
tricts of otherwise waste lands ; it has stim- 
ulated cotton production ; given employment 
to thousands of idle hands ; cheapened the 
price of cotton cloths, and placed within 
the reach of the humblest people wearing 
apparel of fine and beautiful texture. 

Unlimited supply of raw material being 
thus provided, attention reverted to perfect- 
ing the machines for spinning it, and under 
the magical touch of Richard Roberts, of 
Manchester, England, in 1830, the crude 
mule of Crompton took practical shape. He gave to it the quadrant winding 
motion, provided for the harmonious working of the counter and copping 
faller wires, perfected the "backing off" and "drawing up" mechanisms, and 
gave attention to construction of details that placed the mule before the 
world as a practical success. 

Equipped in its present form, the self-acting mule presents one of the 




SPINNING WHEEL. 



THE CENTURY'S TEXTILE PROGRESS 



127 



most striking examples of complex automatic mechanisms that can be found 
in the industrial world. The work of the attendant is confined to piecing 
broken ends and supplying roving, the machine passing through the entire 
cycle of its complicated movements without human direction. An idea may 
be had of its delicate and accurate operation when it is considered that one 
pound of cotton has been spun by it into a thread one hundred and sixty- 
seven miles long. Improvements have been made, indeed, on Roberts's mule, 
but aside from changes in details and form, the machine, as it left the hands 
of this mechanical genius in 1830, remains unchanged. 

During this period, the fly frame was developed from the machines of 




PRIMITIVE HAND LOOM. 



Hargreaves and Arkwright, but while it constituted a great advance over 
these machines, it presented no radical departure in principle. 

We may pause here, as we pass through the third decade of the present 
century, to witness the introduction of a spinning-frame, which, for origi- 
nality of conception and far reaching influence on the textile industry, closely 
approximates the achievements of the pioneer inventions of this art. Refer- 
ence is made to the ring frame in which the flyer is omitted, the bobbin 
being attached to the spindle and revolving with it. On the traverse rail, 
and surrounding each bobbin, is secured a flanged ring having loosely sprung 
thereon a light traveler, through which the yarn, as it comes from the draw- 
ing-rolls, is led to the bobbin. Revolution of the bobbin carries the traveler 
around the ring imparting twist to the yarn, and as it is spun it is wound on 
the bobbin in proportion to the feed of the drawing-rolls. 

The invention of this machine is attributed to John Thorpe, of Rhode 
Island, in 1828, and so popular did it become by reason of decreased power 
necessary to drive it, incidental to the omission of the flyers, and good 



128 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



quality of yarn produced, that, between 1860 and 1865, it nearly replaced all 
other machines in America for spinning cotton. 

The speed of the ring frame, as well as its output, appeared unbounded ; 
but at high speeds, under unbalanced loads, the spindles were found to 
vibrate in their bearings, and the quality of yarn, in consequence, degener- 
ated, the spindle bearings became worn, and the limit seemed to be reached 
at five thousand revolutions per minute. A careful examination of the ring 
frame revealed no vulnerable part of its general structure that could be 
improved so as to readily secure increased speed and steadiness of the 




EARLY SPINNING JENNY. 



spindles when unevenly loaded ; but with admirable foresight, developing 
intellects set to improve the spindles themselves, and, in 1871, Jacob H. 
Sawyer introduced and patented a spindle and bearing, which was one of the 
most important improvements in the ring frame. He chambered the bobbin, 
and by carrying the bolster T well up inside supported the former near its 
load centre. 

The evolution of the spindle was not yet complete. The Sawyer type, at 
more than seven thousand revolutions, would vibrate, and of the many 
attempts to cure the defect none succeeded fully until the very simple 
change made by Mr. Eabbeth in 1878. He gave the spindle a small amount 
of play by making the bolster loose in its supporting case, and placed a pack- 
ing between the two. 

A. H. Sherman improved upon the Eabbeth structure by making the bol- 
ster and step in one piece and omitting the packing, the cushioning being 
dependent upon the lubricating oil. 




GINNING COTTON. THE OLD WAY, PKIOR TO 1800. 




GINNING COTTON. THE NEW WAY. 



130 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



The acme of development in this small but most important part of the 
ring frame was now reached ; and in its approved form it embodies the 
sleeve whirl extending into the bobbin, the loose, yet adjustable bolster, 
tapering spindle, removable step, and lubricating reservoir. Such spindles 
are capable of unlimited speeds, — twenty thousand revolutions per minute 
have been given, — and under absurdly unbalanced loads they run steadily 
and with less expenditure of power than the older forms at their slower speeds. 

Increased speed in the spindles, however, brought increased breakage in 
the yarn, and although stop motion devices had been employed for several 
years, yet economy demanded ready means of piecing broken ends. This 
has been provided recently by mounting the stop clamp upon the roving rod 
well up near the first pair of drawing rolls, so that on pulling the stop wire 
into place the roving is at once fed between the drawing rolls and issues in 
front, Over the spindle, to be easily pieced by one hand. Prior to this, the 




THE MODERN MULE. 



operative was required to reach over the machine, feed the roving to the rolls 
with one hand, hold the stop wire clown with the other, and the broken end 
of yarn in his teeth. 

Excessive ballooning was also incidental to the use of high speed spindles, 
and, while inventive skill has never mastered it, yet the injurious effects 
have been obviated by an ingenious mounting of separators, one between 
each two spindles. 

Aside from minor details perfecting the mechanical construction, such has 
been the evolution of the modern spinning frame. In 1830, it required the 
constant attention of one spinner to oversee twenty slow-running spindles, 
whereas, in 1896, the same attendant could, with less effort, " tend " seventy- 
five or more of the high speed type ; and whereas, in 1790, when the first 
American cotton mill was established by Samuel Slater in Rhode Island, 
there were only seventy-five spindles on cotton fibre, in 1830, the number had 
increased to 1,246,703, and in 1890, to 14,188,103. 

Under such competition no wonder the spinning-wheel of our grand- 
mothers has followed the economic law, that the fittest alone survive, and 



THE CENTURY'S TEXTILE PROGRESS 



131 



has been relegated to the wood-pile or garret, or, bedecked with ribbons, finds 
a resting-place in the chimney-corner as a decorated curiosity. Its mighty 
rival is here. Its attendants have been liberated to more ennobling pursuits. 
The homespun has been replaced by beautiful fabrics, and the monster spin- 
ning frames of to-day pour forth their hourly product in miles of spun fibre, 
where the wheels of our grandmothers were taxed to the utmost to produce 
a very small fraction of the amount. To appreciate the wonderful change, 
pause beside the domestic wheel used within the memory of the living, and 
compare its " whirr," in slowly producing its single thread, to the " buzz " of 
the modern spinning frame turning out its product from a thousand spindles. 
The production of yarn required something more than spinning. The 




HAND COMB OP THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 



fibres in the massed cotton or wool, as delivered to the manufacturer, must 
be opened, untangled, straightened out, and laid parallel by a series of pre- 
paring machines prior to being spun, among which the carding engine ranks 
first. In the incipient form, this machine dates as far back as the middle of 
the eighteenth century, when, by hand manipulation, two cylinders covered 
with small teeth and working in close proximity disintegrated the fibrous 
mass ; but the fibres were much broken and not evenly arranged. The 
addition of the workers and strippers around a rapidly revolving swift gave 
increased utility to the machine, and Bramwell's feed, in 1871, so regulated 
the amount of fibre fed at intervals that the resulting lap possessed the 
desired even character. This feed weighs the fibre as it is fed, stops the 
lifting apron while the scale pan dumps its load, resets the scale pan, and 
automatically starts the lifting apron to again feed the scale, — a cycle of 
operations indicating a near approach to human intelligence. 



132 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



One additional machine at least, the comb, requires notice before passing 
to the all-important progress made in the loom structure. With advancing 
civilization and refinement came demands for superior fabrics, which could 
only be answered by a supply of better fibre. Such fibre could only be 
secured from the bale by separating the long from the short, a problem well 
calculated to tax the ingenuity of an enlightened age. Attempts had been 
made to do this by hand implements not unlike the curry-comb of to-day, 
except that the teeth were long and tapering. This remained the only means 
employed for years, while other textile machinery passed through its phe- 
nomenal period of development. At last, in 1841, it occurred to Heilman, 
while watching a lady comb her hair, that a machine might be constructed to 
comb wool by drawing a bunch of fibres over pins. He constructed a device 




NOBLE COMB OF 1890. 



on this principle, and in a developed form it is used still and known as the 
Heilman or nip comb. 

In 1853, James Noble gave to the world the circle comb, wherein two flat 
circular rings, having projecting from one face vertical pins, were mounted, 
one eccentrically within the other, and revolved in the same direction, the 
object being to dab the fibre on the rings where they met ; and then as they 
revolved and separated the short fibre would be drawn off the large ring, 
leaving the long fibre freed from the short. These machines were success- 
ful, and above all they were practical — the operation of the hand comber 
disappeared from the face of the earth. 

The sudden birth and rapid development of mechanically perfect means 
for preparing and spinning fibres were due largely to the comparatively sim- 
ple movements required to draw and twist the yarn, but in the loom no such 
problem was presented. Here the movements were complicated and varied, 



THE CENTURY'S TEXTILE PROGRESS 



133 



and the application of power to the manipulation of the delicate threads was 
not susceptible of sudden and successful solution. The warps, stretched in 
a sheet between two beams, had to be opened to form the shed, the shuttle 
had to be passed therethrough, the weft beaten to place, and means provided 
to feed the warp and to take up of the fabric an amount at each beat-up cor- 
responding to the size of the weft. These were the movements necessary in 
the most simple kind of weaving, and though fully understood for many cen- 
turies, as evidenced by the Indian and Egyptian looms, and as embodied in 
hand machines of the seventeenth century, it was not till 1787 that they 




PLAIN POWER LOOM, 1840. 



were clothed with the application of power. Even then the first embodiment 
did not emanate from the hands of a weaver or engineer, but from Dr. Cart- 
wright, a clergyman in the church of England. It was not surprising that 
these looms failed of their expectations, for the shuttle would frequently get 
trapped in the shed, the driven power-lay would break out the warp threads, 
the take-up and let-off motions were not graduated to compensate for the 
decrease of the warp and increase of the cloth beams, resulting in thin and 
thick places in the cloth. But this application of power to the loom was the 
initial step in the industrial supremacy of the machine, which to-day works 
with the perfect cadence of an automaton. 



134 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

The first years of the present century were of unsurpassed activity in the 
inventive field. The spinners were putting forth more yarn than the hand- 
looms could use. It remained for the loom to keep pace with the times. 
Miller, in 1800, Todd and Horrocks in 1803, Johnston in 1807, Cotton in 
1810, Taylor in 1815, and many others, concentrated their efforts to develop 
the plain power-loom ; but the second decade of the present century saw the 
old hand-loom with its slow and cumbrous movements still mistress of the 
art. 

The name of Richard Roberts stands preeminent at this period, between 
1820 and 1825, as giving to the power-loom several perfecting touches in the 
means for letting off the warp the small amount necessary at each pick, the 
means for taking up the finished cloth, the means for shedding the warp for 
the passage of the shuttle, and the adaptation of the stop motions of his 
predecessors. These changes gave practical life to the machine, and over- 
threw the barrier that obstructed the advance of the textile industry. They 
were, however, only a few of the improvements added in perfecting the 
power-loom, such as the automatic temple to hold the cloth extended and pre- 
vent drawing of the weft, the shuttle-guard to prevent accidental jumping 
of the shuttle from the race, the perfect weft-stop to bring the loom to a 
stand on breakage or failure of the weft, the protector mechanism to obviate 
a " smash " when the shuttle failed to box, and the loose reed, all of which 
stand out in bold relief as evidences of the progressive tendencies of the age, 
and combined in aboiit the year 1838, more than a half century after Cart- 
wright's first conception of the idea, to complete the practical power-loom. 

The loom had not reached a stage of mechanical perfection; much yet 
remained to be done, but the plain power-loom of this period was both a 
practical and financial success. By its immediate predecessor, the hand- 
loom, a good weaver and assistant could work from forty to fifty picks per 
minute, and weave plain cloth. By the power-loom of 1840, one weaver 
could "tend" two looms running from 100 to 120 picks per minute and pro- 
duce the same cloth. Without passing through the various steps which cul- 
minated in the power-loom for plain cloth, now in use, and tracing the causes 
that led to perfection of details, the amazing advance from the ancient and 
18th-century hand loom to the power-loom of 1840 and that of to-day may 
well be shown by comparing the machines themselves. 

Such was the simple form of the power-loom. One half of the warps were 
alternately raised and lowered for the shot of weft; but as a woven 
fabric is one in which the warp and weft are united by passing them over 
and under each other, the figure or pattern of the cloth will be varied as the 
threads are crossed in different combinations, and this will depend on the 
order of raising and lowering the warp threads, and the introduction of differ- 
ent characters and colors of weft. This brings up for review the most impor- 
tant parts of the loom structure — the shedding mechanism and shuttle-box 
motions — through whose agencies the most beautiful and complicated 
designs are produced. 

Shedding mechanism was present of course in all looms, but in the power- 
looms of the early part of this century it was confined to tappets adjusted on 
a revolving shaft, and the number of heddles was limited to six or eight. 
Fairly good twills and other like fabrics could be produced within the limits 




Weaving, the old way. 




WEAVING. THE NEW WAY. 



136 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



of the few heddles, but with the introduction of the " dobbie," or that part of 
the loom which raises and lowers the harness-frames, a new era in fancy- 
weaving was inaugurated. By this ingenious device as many as thirty-six or 
even forty heddles could be used and raised at will to form figures. The crea- 
tion of the dobbie belongs to the 19th century, and it is found in practical 
form about 1863 in the United States under the name of the American or 
Knowles dobbie. The essentials are the two cylinder gears revolving con- 




LOOM of 1890. 



stantly, the vibrating gears, carried on the end of pivoted arms and having 
teeth on a part of their periphery, the harness jacks connected to the heddle 
frames, and the links joining the vibrating gears and harness jacks in such 
manner that part revolution of the former causes the latter to move the con- 
nected heddle frame, and consequently the warp threads, up or down. A 
pattern chain determines what vibrator gears shall engage the cylinder gears, 
and, once the chain is fitted to the design to be woven, nothing remains for 
the loom tender but to oversee the operation of the machine. 

Another form of dobbie, not less popular than the Knowles, developed 
into a perfect automatic device about fifty years ago in England. Here two 



THE CENTURY'S TEXTILE PROGRESS 



137 



reciprocating knives are engaged, under the direction of a pattern chain, by 
one of two hooked jacks connected to the harness levers, and the shed is 
again formed without human intervention. Other forms of dobbie structures 
have been evolved during the last fifty years, but these two, with some modi- 
fications and additions of details, have come extensively into practical use, 
and represent the zenith of development at the present time. By their aid 
great variety is rendered possible in the design on the resulting fabric. The 
figured tablecloths, damasks, twills, satins, bordered and cross-bordered fab- 




JACQUAKD MACHINE. 



rics, are now possible at a cost of a thousandth part only of that incurred 
when produced by any of the old types of machines. 

The subject of shedding, i. e., of opening the warp-threads to afford a 
passage for the shuttle, is so inseparably connected with the name of Jac- 
quard, that attention is now carried to that wonderful invention evolved in 
the first few years of the present century, and by the use of which it may 
truly be said that anything can be woven as figure in a fabric that can be 
designed by the hand of man. It is as well adapted for the finest silks as for 
heavy carpets and figured velvets, and by an operation theoretically so sim- 
ple as to excite wonder that it remained hidden until this age. Jacquard 



138 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

was a native of France and exhibited his machine complete in 1804, but so 
bitter was the opposition that the first machine was destroyed and burned. 
Its merits were clear, however, and reconstruction and general adoption in 
France followed soon after. It has since been applied not only for shedding 
but for every purpose where mechanical operations could be controlled by a 
pattern. In brief, this machine simply controls each warp thread separately 
by a cord having a hook attached. These hooks are arranged near the path of 
a reciprocating griffe or frame carrying cross bars, and are controlled, as to 
engagement with the bars, by a card perforated according to a pattern ; thus 
any one or any number of threads can be raised at will. The dobbie controls 
harness frames each carrying a large number of warp threads ; the Jacquard 
controls every thread separately. The greatly increased capacity of the latter 
machine is apparent. Thus a 1500-hook Jacquard will do the work of thirty 
dobbies of fifty jacks each. 

The hand-shuttle box mechanism of Kay's time has developed into the 
machine operated as a sliding or revolving shuttle-box controlled by pattern 
devices, which, being added to a dobbie or Jacquard equipped loom within the 
last twenty-five years, presents the highest point of perfection attained in 
the textile art. In such looms the warp threads, arranged in any colors, 
may be raised at will collectively or individually, any one of ten or twelve 
different colored wefts may be introduced as desired, and combinations may 
thus be formed to produce designs of the most complicated nature. 

Pile fabrics, cut, uncut, and tufted, represent a type quite distinct from those 
produced on the ordinary fancy loom just described, and, in the form of vel- 
vets, imitation animal skins, and Brussels carpet, were almost unknown prior 
to the invention of Samuel Bigelow of Boston, in 1837. Fabrics of this 
character, if made at all, were the products of tedious hand methods, and on 
account of the consequent high price were the exclusive property of the very 
wealthy. Carpets with pile surface had been made by the Persians and 
Turks ages ago, by tying pieces of woolen yarn around longitudinal or warp 
threads, and binding the whole together by a weft at intervals ; and such 
tufts, being carefully selected as to color, were made to present rich designs, 
but. like all other hand-produced fabrics, these were the property of the few. 

The pile fabric loom of Bigelow opened the way for an advance in the car- 
pet industry which continues to the present time ; its ultimate effect being 
to place carpets within the reach of the humble cottager ; and floors which 
were strewn with brush, or at best concealed by the home-made rag carpet, 
now became covered by a soft and beautifully figured fabric. This loom was 
a practical machine, and at once commended itself to the manufacturer. It 
consisted of the old power-loom provided with a Jacquard, already well 
understood, to which was added an attachment to introduce wires at intervals 
as false weft, and bind the warp around them by the usual weft threads. The 
wires being withdrawn after a few shots had been woven, left the warp loops 
standing, and these loops being formed under the dictates of the Jacquard, 
any character of beautiful design could be produced. Velvets, brocades, even 
the fine imitation of sealskin, are the simple products of this form of power- 
loom when the pile loops are cut. Greater cheapness in weaving cut pile 
fabrics has been secured by a slight modification in the Bigelow loom, so that 
two fabrics could be woven at one time. This idea was introduced about 



THE CENTURY'S TEXTILE PROGRESS 



139 



I80O, and it contemplated weaving the two fabrics face to face, keeping 
them separated by the usual pile wires of Bigelow, and passing the pile 
threads from one fabric to the other. Upon cutting the two cloths apart 
through the threads uniting them, two cut pile or velvet fabrics resulted. 
This loom required the .service of two shuttles and double the number of 
warp-beams, but it worked well, and is to-day largely in use and well adapted 
to its purpose. 

The demand for tufted pile fabrics, meaning those in which the pile is 




SMITH AND SKINNER LOOM FOR MOQUETTE CARPETS. 



formed from tufts or yarns, individually tied to the foundation fabric, and of 
which the rich Turkish and Persian rugs are examples, had not been met by 
the Bigelow loom ; in fact it was only about forty years ago that the mechan- 
ical production of such fabrics became possible. Smith and Skinner were the 
pioneers to enter this field, and the first, by the aid of machinery, to com- 
pete with the cheap hand-labor of the orientals. The invention of a machine 
that Avill select any desired color from a large number of yarns, carry it 
between the warp-threads at the exact spot necessary to form the figure, tie 
it around these threads, cut it off to the length necessary to form an even and 
smooth surface, return the unused portion to place, and do all quickly, 
accurately, and with little cost, is an achievement that may rightly claim the 



140 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

admiration of the industrial world. Yet this is what the machine inaugu- 
rated by Smith and Skinner does to-day. The general movements and com- 
plicated parts of the power-loom are present as for weaving a plain fabric, and 
on beams or large spools carried by a chain, under the control of a pattern, 
are arranged the tuft yarns, in the order in which they should appear in the 
figure. Through the pattern devices the proper spool or beam is brought into 
position to be seized by a pair of fingers which rise, take the spool from the 
chain, lower it to the warp, pass the ends of the tuft yarn through and around 
the proper warp thread, hold them till the insertion of a binding weft, then, 
when they have been properly cut to length, return the spool into its place in 
the chain. This creation of mechanical genius takes rank with the wonders 
of the spinning mule and, like that machine, passes through its entire opera- 
tion with the precision of an automaton. By its aid close imitations of the 
oriental hand-made rugs are placed before the world at one quarter the former 
price, and, as a result, the fine moquette and axminster carpets lend their 
beauty to nearly every home in the land. 

The credit for improving the power-loom so as to adapt it for weaving 
fancy cassimeres and suitings, belongs to William Crompton, a native of Eng- 
land, who came to the United States in 183G, and shortly thereafter, in the 
Middlesex Mills at Lowell, Mass., constructed and operated the first fancy cas- 
simere power-loom, not only in this country, but in the world. Prior to this 
the harness for all woolen and worsted power-looms was worked by cams, and 
the cloth was woven plain ; but Crompton's loom of 1840 started a new era 
in the woolen industry, rendering it possible to produce any fancy weave by 
an arrangement of pattern chain and large number of harnesses in connection 
with the change shuttle-boxes. Improvements followed, by the substitution 
of the reverse shuttle-box motion in 1854, the perfection of the general loom 
structure in 1857, the addition of the upright lever harness motion in 1864, 
and the centre-stop in 1879, so that at the present time this machine is 
adapted to run at high speeds and weave at moderate cost the most com- 
plicated designs in woolen and worsted — such as shawls, checks, suitings, 
and all forms of fancy cassimeres. 

The general industrial activity in all matters pertaining to textile manu- 
facture between the years 1835 and 1860, brought forth many forms of 
looms of special adaptation to meet the increasing demands of society. The 
narrow-ware loom appeared in the third decade of this century, and the 
addition of the dobbie, or Jacquard, later, equipped this loom for the 
simultaneous production of several ribbons, or narrow fabrics, side by side, 
having plain or figured effect. The lay was divided into several reed spaces, 
and a corresponding number of shuttles, operated by rack and pinion, carried 
the weft-threads through the adjacent warp. 

About the middle of this century, and until the adoption of the more rich 
and delicate fabrics, hair-cloth was the accepted covering for furniture, and 
power-looms for its production quickly answered the demand. They reached 
such a degree of perfection and efficiency in this country that almost the entire 
industry was centred here. This fabric was made from the hair of horses' 
tails as weft, and a strong cotton warp ; and as the weft could not be wound 
upon bobbins, as usual, each separate hair was inserted by an ingenious 
device made to reciprocate through the shed, and select one out of a bundle 



THE CENTURY'S TEXTILE PROGRESS 



141 



of hairs cut to the same length. The conception of a power device capable 
of the delicate operation necessary to weaye hair-cloth, could never have 
been realized except in a highly intelligent manufacturing community ; but 
in 1870, Rhode Island alone produced on such machines over 600,000 yards, 
consuming thereby the hair of about eight hundred thousand horse-tails. 

The evolution of the lappet loom started between 1840 and 1850 in England 
and Germany. It sought to enhance the pleasing effect of plain fabrics, by 
placing an embroidered or raised figure over the surface during the weaving 




CIRCULAR LOOM. 



process. Near the lower edge of ladies' skirts, on the ends of neckties and 
like articles, an embroidered effect was desirable ; and this has been secured 
by the lappet attachment to the present power-loom. In this a needle is 
mounted in appropriate location, usually back of the lay, and through an eye 
in the end thereof the lappet thread is led from a suitable supply. This 
needle is normally either above or below the warp. When a spot or figure is 
wanted, it is caused to move into the plane of the opposite warps of the shed, 
under the direction of suitable controlling pattern mechanisms. The shuttle 
being then shot, the lappet thread appears upon the surface, and it may be 
made to thus appear as often as desired ; its position being shifted as neces- 
sary under the guidance of a pattern-chain to form, in embroidery effect, any 
character of small design. 



142 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

Closely allied to the lappet loom in the effect produced is the swivel-shuttle 
loom, which has come extensively into use during the last thirty years to sup- 
ply demands for spotted or embroidered figures. The loom is of the plain 
type, having small swivel-shuttles movable in carrier blocks, which are secured 
to the supporting bar near the top of the lay-reed, in convenient location to 
permit the shuttles to be depressed into the shed. Each swivel-shuttle is 
provided with a rack engaging a suitable operating pinion to move the shut- 
tles simultaneously from one carrier to the next. Normally these shuttles 
are held above the warp plane, and the loom in this condition weaves tabby 
or twill. At the desired moment, the supporting-bar is lowered by a cam or 
Jacquard to bring the shuttles in the shed ; the shuttles are moved from one 
carrier to the next adjacent, and then all are raised to their normal position 
above the warp. The ground weft is laid and the beat-up takes place. Repe- 
tition develops a spot or figure at intervals across the entire fabric, and with 
the use of different colored swivel-threads the greatest diversity of embroid- 
ered effect is secured over the entire ground. Some of the most beautiful 
spotted silks for ladies' dresses and fancy scarfs, never before contemplated, 
are now woven on this loom at prices that are very moderate for such a class 
of goods. 

A radical departure from the paths traveled by prior inventors was inau- 
gurated about 1859, in adapting the power-loom for weaving tubular fabrics, 
resulting twenty years later in perfecting a machine in which the warp 
threads were arranged in circular series and the weft laid in the circular shed 
by a continuously moving shuttle. Fire-hose and like tubular cloths resulted. 
Rapid development continued from the middle of the present century, so that 
nearly every conceivable form of loom, from the light running plain fabric 
and gingham looms to the heavy structures for weaving canvas and wire 
cloth, claimed the attention of the inventor ; and in this last decade of the 
century looms are constructed to weave anything that can be woven. Wire, 
slats, cane, straw, and glass, as well as the light fibres of cotton, wool, or 
silk, are now easily manipulated on the power-loom and woven into cloths, 
mattings, baskets, cane-seats for furniture, bottle-covers, and ever so many 
irregular forms that, in the dormant condition of this industry prior to the 
nineteenth century, were quite beyond consideration of the most active 
enthusiast of the art. 

Wonderful as these achievements have been, the restless ambition of 
inventive genius remains unsatisfied. Improvements continue — especially 
in the United States, under the fostering care of a liberal patent system — 
and attempts are now being made, and with success, to form the power-loom 
into a thoroughly automatic machine incapable of producing any but the best 
quality of cloth. Upon the breakage or undue slackening of a warp thread, 
the loom would continue to weave and produce imperfect fabric until the at- 
tendant had pieced the broken end or adjusted the slack thread. Means were 
devised some years ago to remedy this defect, but with only partial success 
until near the close of this century. Breakage or failure more often occurred 
in the weft, however, and though the weft stop-motion successfully detected 
the fault and stopped the loom, yet much valuable time was lost, and constant 
attention was needed to supply new filling. Progressive tendencies of the 
closing years of this decade have sought to meet this difficulty. As a result, 



THE CENTURY'S TEXTILE PROGRESS 



143 



means are now provided whereby, on failure or breakage of the weft, the 
loom discharges its imperfect filling from the shuttle, supplies itself with a 
new weft from the hopper, places it in the shuttle, and continues to weave. 
Such a loom provided with a warp stop-motion is almost incapable of pro- 
ducing imperfect cloth, and so long as the warps remain intact and the 
hopper is kept supplied with weft-bobbins, it will continue to weave. In 
fact, in many mills of the New England States these looms are now left 
to run during the dinner hour without an attendant, and no imperfect cloth 
is produced. 

Such machines are almost independent of human attention, yet they are the 
evolution of the old-time hand loom. Just one hundred years ago the hand 
loom, running at 40 or 50 picks to the minute, required the watchful care of 




THE FIRST KNITTING MACHINE. LEE. 



an expert weaver ; in 1840, the same weaver could " tend " from two to four 
power-looms running 100 to 120 picks ; to-day he oversees from 10 to 16 looms 
running from 150 to 200 picks. 

The homespun, with its old familiar butternut dye, has disappeared. The 
spinning-wheel and loom no longer occupy a part of every home. In their 
stead, the farmer, as he looks beyond the thriving cornfields, beholds the 
reeking chimneys of a thousand mills as they proclaim the majesty of the 
power machines. The fabrics produced are beautiful and varied in design, 
and their cost so low as to excite wonder that such progress could have 
been the result of one hundred years of industrial activity. 

The emancipation of knitting, as a domestic occupation, dates from the 
romantic experiences of William Lee, a subject of Queen Elizabeth, of whom 
it is related that while watching the deft fingers of his lady-love guide the 



144 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

knitting needle from loop to loop, conceived the idea of performing the oper- 
ation by mechanical means. It is a singular coincidence also that the inven- 
tion of this the first machine for knitting purposes, like that of the power-loom 
for weaving, should have emanated from the hands of a student and clergy- 
man, unfamiliar with the art. 

Lee's device was naturally crude. It contained only twelve needles, ar- 
ranged in a row with about seven or eight to the inch, but it successfully 
formed a knitted web. Further progress in the art was slow, on account of 
the strong opposition to all machines which seemed likely to deprive the hand 
artisan of occupation. The Queen refused to grant a patent to Lee for this 
reason, and knitting remained the exclusive prerogative of women for many 
years. Like the spinning-wheel, however, the hand knitting-needle beheld a 
rival, which in the diversity of human wants was destined to create one of 
the great industrial pursuits of the age. 

Stockings, like all other garments, were first made by sewing together 
pieces of linen, silk, cotton, or woolen cloth, resulting in a poorly fitting arti- 
cle, prolific of uncomfortable seams. Knitting the entire hose in a single 
piece by hand needles overcame these defects to an extent, and the Lee ma- 
chine opened the way for the production of such articles on a scale that now 
furnishes the civilized world. 

Lee's machine produced a straight web which required to be cut and sewn 
to shape ; then to it was added the ribbing device and the narrowing and 
widening attachment, to shape the web to fit the body without cutting ; but 
still a seam existed in the stocking where the edges united. In 1816, how- 
ever, M. I. Brunei built a circular machine having an endless row of needles, 
and in 1831, Timothy Bailey^of New York, applied power to the knitting 
frame ; the result being that at this time a tubular seamless fabric could be 
produced on a power machine. 

The latch-needle, which has given to the knitting machine great capacity 
and diversity of product, was not invented until about 1847, by Mr. Aiken, of 
New Hampshire. A period of development then set in that continues to the 
present time. The needles by cam mechanism were made independently 
operative in a circular carrier ; narrowing and widening devices to produce 
pouches, such as the heels and toes of stockings, were added, as was also feed- 
ing mechanism for the introduction of different colored yarn, or a reinforcing 
thread. Such machines, of 1868 and 1870, would form a stocking or under- 
garment well fitted to the form ; but they required the constant attention of 
a skilled knitter, until pattern mechanism was introduced to control the time 
of introduction of the colored or additional thread, and the place for forma- 
tion of the narrowed or widened web. In forming the heel and toe pockets, 
a part of the needles are thrown out of action, and the movements to operate 
the active needles are changed from round and round, or circular work, to 
reciprocating. At each reciprocation one or more needles, at the end of the 
series, are rendered inactive, until one half the required pocket is formed; 
then they are successively returned to action, and circular knitting resumed. 
It may be also an additional thread is introduced to reinforce the wearing 
qualities of the heel and toe, or a differently colored yarn may be thrown in 
to give figure, but all such movements are now automatically controlled by 
a pattern mechanism. The ribbed leg portion of a stocking is formed either 



THE CENTURY'S TEXTILE PROGRESS 



145 




KNITTING IN THE OLD WAY. 



in the same machine that fashions the foot or in a separate machine to which 
the foot is transferred, but in either case the pattern mechanism again controls. 

Within the last twenty years this art has been so greatly improved, es- 
pecially in the hosiery line, that the automatic machine of to-day passes 
through the entire operation of knitting the arti- 
cle, finishing it off, and starting afresh without 
other aid than a supply of yarn. Moreover, the 
machine now to be considered practical must be 
so constructed that it will continue thus to oper- 
ate without repairs or loss of time from month to 
month ; and its daily output will average more 
than the old hand machines could accomplish in a 
week. By hand knitting one hundred loops could 
be formed per minute ; by Lee's machine as many 
as fifteen hundred were possible in the -same time ; 
but to-day, the automatic machine will average 
between 300,000 and 400,000 loops, and at the same 
time will produce a finer web, shaped to fit the 
form of the wearer. 

Such comparisons reveal the vitally important 
progress made in the knitting industry, through 
which most of our underwear, stockings, scarfs, 
neck-comforts, and woolen gloves are supplied. 
The labor and time saving devices developed in 
this class of machines, and the fact that unskilled 
workmen may "tend" from fifteen to twenty of them, largely accounts for 
the universal adoption of warm and comfortable wearing apparel by all 
classes of society. 

The number of patents granted on textile machinery during the nine- 
teenth century furnishes an index to the progress made. Prior to 1800, 
less than one hundred patents were granted in the United States, while 
since that time, and up until July, 1895, about 15,200 patents were issued, 
covering tangible and material improvements over the old structures. The 
beneficent effects of these inventions are attested by the wonderful and con- 
tinuous reduction in cost to the consumer of all kinds of textile fabrics. 
For the manufacturer, these have made possible increased production in a 
given time with less manual labor. When it is remembered that the labor 
cost is about one half the total cost of production of textile fabrics, it will be 
apparent that the beneficial effects of any labor-saving device are felt as well 
by the consumer as the producer. 

In 1870 the number of textile establishments in the United States was 3035, 
giving occupation to 146,897 employes, and consuming annually 359,420,829 
pounds of textile fibres, while in 1890 the number of establishments had 
increased to 4114, employing 511,897 hands, and consuming the enormous 
amount of 1,572,548,933 pounds of fibres ; representing progress and growth 
in the textile arts not excelled by any other manufacturing industry. 

Food* and clothing constitute the primary wants of man. The former 
grew ready for his use as a natural product of the soil. The latter he had 
to produce by artificial means to afford that protection which nature failed to 
10 



146 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 



provide. Next to agriculture, therefore, man's early attention was directed 
to securing a covering for the body. Looking back through the vista of 
years dimmed by the mists of very remoteness, we find the animal and vege- 
table kingdoms destined to contribute to his needs. There were the blue flax- 
fields ; cotton-bolls, scattered like powdered snow about the land, coquetting 
in wanton abandon with winds tempered by an all-wise Power to the shep- 
herd-watched sheep ; goats roaming the vale of Cashmere ; silk-worms of 
Ceres, and the grasses of spring, overflowing with allurements of assistance 
for his adornment. With these essentials has man wrought a mighty miracle. 
The genius of Industrial Art, awakened by the fascinating influence of 
Nature, invoked the Goddess of Invention, approaching her temple not with 




KNITTING IN THE NEW WAY. 



loud acclaim, as marked the herculean strides in other arts and sciences, 
but modestly, though tenaciously and most effectually. For not more is 
woman emancipated by the sewing machine than both sexes by the doing 
away of the spinning-wheel, the household knitter, and hand-worked loom. 
Not more do electricity and steam power facilitate the various occupations 
of man than do the many textured fabrics add to his needs. 

In all the phases of social life is this industry manifest. If the banquet 
hall is warmed and lighted by electricity, so, also, is it adorned with tapes- 
tries, silken and artistic, napery surpassingly smooth, and laces intricately 
wrought. 

How like a fairy tale reads the evolution of textile progress ! Concep- 
tions, infinite in range and variety, alike pleasing to the eye and gratifying 
to vanity, have been spun, woven, knit, and embroidered, until, standing as 
we do at the dawn of another century, upon the summit of unparalleled 
achievements, we ask, " Can the mind conceive, the heart desire, or the hand 
execute more." 



THE CENTURY'S RELIGIOUS PROGRESS 

By GEOEGE EDWAED EEED, S.T.D., LL.D., 
President Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa. 

The closing years of the nineteenth century, both in Europe and the United 
States, are characterized by a religious life as phenomenal with respect to 
development and influence as those of the eighteenth were phenomenal for 
lethargy and decline. " Never," says a writer in the North British Review, 
" has a century risen on England so void of soul and faith as that which 
opened with Anne (1702), and reached its misty noon beneath the second 
George (1732-1760), — a dewless night succeeded by a sunless dawn. The 
Puritans were buried and the Methodists were not born." In this opinion, 
all historians and essayists concur. 

Among the clergy were many whose lives were of the Dominie Sampson or- 
der, described in Scott's "Guy Mannering " — men whose lives were the scandal 
and reproach of the church ; who openly taught that reason is the all-sufficient 
guide ; that the Scriptures are to be received only as they agree with the 
light of nature ; pleading for liberty while running into the wildest licentious- 
ness. Montesquieu, indeed, did not hesitate to charge Englishmen generally 
with being devoid of every genuine religious sentiment. " If," he says, "the 
subject of religion is mentioned in society, it excites nothing but laughter. 
Not more than four or five members of the House of Commons are regular 
attendants at church." 

From the colleges and universities, the great doctrines of the Eeformation 
were well-nigh banished, a refined system of ethics, having no connection 
with Christian motives, being substituted for the principles of a divinely 
revealed law. 

On every side faith seemed to be dying out ; indeed, would have died out but 
for the tremendous reformation in life and morals induced by the self-denying 
and heroic labors of the Wesley s and their coadjutors, to whom, more than to 
any beside, England owes her salvation from a relapse into barbarism, — a 
service which in later years won for the Wesleys a memorial in Westminster 
Abbey. 

On the Continent, religious conditions were no better. In France the 
masses were yet reeling amid the excesses of the Revolution. Voltaire and 
Rousseau were the oracles and prophets of their times, — the popular idols 
of the hour. Voltaire, indeed, openly boasted that he alone would laugh 
Christianity out of the court of public opinion, declaring the whole system 
to be outgrown and powerless. Germany, given over to theological specula- 
tion, crushed beneath the weight of the Napoleonic wars, and torn by internal 
dissensions, gave but little hope that upon her altars the dying fire of the 
great Reformation would ever again flame forth as in the older and more 
heroic days. 

In the United States, similar conditions prevailed, especially during the last 
decade of the eighteenth century and the first of the nineteenth. Forms of 



148 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

infidelity the most radical and revolting prevailed throughout the land. Many 
of the leading statesmen, in private at least, did not scruple to confess them- 
selves atheists or deists. Thomas Paine was the popular idol ; his "Age of 
Eeason " almost as common as the Bible itself. The majority of the men 
taking part with him in the founding of the government, with but few 
exceptions, held theological sentiments akin to his, although declining to 
participate in his violent and brutal assaults upon the Scriptures and the 
institutions of Christian society. 

Speaking of the earlier days of the century, Chancellor Kent, in one of his 
published works, declared that in his younger days the men of his acquaint- 




BIRMINGHAM MEETING-HOUSE (ANCIENT). 

ance in professional life who did not avow infidelity were comparatively 
few. Bishop Meade, of Virginia, in his autobiography, states that " scarcely a 
young man of culture could be found who believed in Christianity." 

The colleges and universities were so filled with youthful skeptics that when, 
in 1795, Timothy Dwight assumed the presidency of Yale, he found but four 
or five willing to admit that they were members of churches. So far did 
they go in their devotion to the French infidelity prevalent at the time, that 
the seniors of the college were commonly known among themselves by the 
names of Diderot, D'Alembert, Kobespierre, Rousseau, Danton, and the like. 
Harvard, Princeton, William and Mary, the University of Virginia, — all the 
colleges indeed, — were as thoroughly hotbeds of skepticism as nurseries of 
learning. 



THE CENTURY'S RELIGIOUS PROGRESS 149 

The period, too, was one of internecine strife among the feeble churches 
themselves. Divisions on doctrinal lines were incessant ; departures from the 
faith as numerous as they were disastrous. Of the missionary spirit so 
gloriously characteristic of the nineteenth century there was not even a trace. 
Up to 1793, not a missionary society was in existence on either side of the 
ocean. The same was true of hospitals, asylums, of every form of organized 
effort for the reclamation of the masses or the amelioration of human ill. 

In Boston, as late as 1811, men of literary or political distinction, eager to 
listen to the marvelous revival preaching of the celebrated Dr. Griffin, 
attended his services surreptitiously, or in disguise, fearful lest knowledge of 
attendance upon religious services of such vulgar character should detract 
from the dignity of their social standing. 

If, however, the times were bad, the outlook for Christianity dark, the 
period, nevertheless, was not wholly without gleams of light. The spiritual 
leaven imparted by Whitefield in his mighty preaching tours, by Edwards, 
D wight, Asbury, Griffin, and others of equally heroic stamp, gradually began 
to work, — slowly at first, but with ever accelerating movement, — until at 
last the triumphant successes of the present century began their stately 
march. By degrees a new life appeared among the churches, heralding the 
dawn of a new and brighter day. Revivals of religion, many of them power- 
ful and sweeping, broke out in many parts of the country. Massachusetts, 
Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, the Carolinas, Georgia, were in succession 
the theatres of movements which, before they had spent their force, had 
completely revolutionized the conditions of unfaith, immorality, and spiritual 
apathy so long prevailing. These upheavals of spiritual power, continuing 
during the first twenty-five years of the century, laid broad and deep the 
foundations of the mighty achievements of the church which we are now to 
consider. How extensive, how wonderful, have been these achievements can 
perhaps best be understood by a consideration of the changed conditions 
marking the close of the century. 

In the first place, that the people of the United States are a religious people 
may be inferred from the amazing number and variety of religions abounding 
and flourishing within our borders. It may be doubted that in any other 
Christian country of the earth there can be found so many varieties of reli- 
gion, so many church organizations, so many and diverse peculiarities of 
doctrine, polity, and usage, as here. It is a land of churches ; churches for 
whites, churches for blacks ; churches large and churches small ; churches 
orthodox and churches heterodox ; churches Christian and churches pagan ; 
churches Catholic and churches Protestant ; churches liberal and churches 
conservative, Calvinistic and Armenian, Unitarian and Trinitarian ; repre- 
senting nearly every phase of ecclesiastical and theological thought. As 
Americans have distanced the world in the extent and variety of their 
material inventions, so have they distanced the world in the extent and 
variety of their theological and ecclesiastical forms. The state cannot control 
the church, and the church is as free as the state. As a man may freely 
transfer his citizenship from one State to another, to each in turn, so may he, if 
he shall so desire, pass from one ecclesiastical communion to another, until he 
shall have exhausted the list. If, perchance, no one of the one hundred and 
forty-three distinct denominations enumerated in the census tables shall suit 



150 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



him, there remain innumerable separate, independent congregations, no one 
of which lays claim to denominational name, creed, or connection, in some 
one of which he yet may find an ecclesiastical home. The principle of divi- 
sion, indeed, has been carried so far in America that it would be a difficult 
task to find the religious body so small as, in the judgment of some, to be 
incapable of further division. 

It is to be observed, however, that the differences of the one hundred and 




Mm 

m IP 

I mm i I ! 



CATHEDRAL OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE (PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL) UNDER PROCESS OP 

ERECTION IN NEW YORK. 

forty-three denominations into which our religious population is divided are, 
in many instances, so slight that, should consolidation be attempted, the one 
hundred, and forty-three could easily be reduced to a comparatively small 
number, and this with but little change in doctrine, polity, or usage. Consol- 
idation into organic union, however, is hardly likely to occur in the near 
future, even were such consolidation desirable. In the first place such a 
result would be contrary to the genius of Protestantism, based, as it is, on the 
absolute right of private judgment with respect to matters of faith and 
morals, and, in the second place, it would be contrary to human experience. 
" Eeligious controversies," as Gladstone says, " do not, like bodily wounds, 



THE CENTURY'S RELIGIOUS PROGRESS 



151 



heal by the genial forces of nature. If they do not proceed to gangrene and 
mortification, at least they tend to harden into fixed facts, to incorpo- 
rate themselves into laws, character, and tradition, nay, even into language ; 
so that at last they take rank among the data and presuppositions of com- 
mon life, and are thought as inexorable as the rocks of an iron-bound coast." 
In religion, when men separate, the severance is like the severance of the 
two early friends of whom the poet speaks : — 

" They parted, ne'er to meet again, 

But neither ever found another 
To free- the hollow heart from paining. 

They stood aloof, the scars remaining, 
Like cliffs which havt been rent asunder, 

A dreary sea now rolls between." 

If, however, the diversities are great — increasing rather than diminishing 
— the " unity of the spirit in the bonds of peace " with respect to all essen- 
tials of doctrine is as remarkable as the 
diversity in the outward form. Never, 
indeed, since the dawn of Christianity, 
were the members of the diversified bod- 
ies of the general church of Christ in 
such thorough accord, in such closeness 
of attachment, with such generous re- 
cognition of all that is good in each of 
the several bodies, as now. Even the 
Roman Catholic Church, intolerant in 
all lands where its sway is practically 
undisputed, in the United States, at 
least, has caught something of the 
broader toleration of Protestants, giv- 
ing to its millions of communicants a 
better and truer gospel than in those 
countries where it does not come into 
contact with Protestantism, while free- 
ly cooperating with other churches in 
various works of philanthropy and re- 
form. 

In the next place, that we are a religious, a Christian people may be argued 
from the steady and enormous increase during the centuiy of the material 
and spiritual forces of the church of Christ, an increase phenomenal even 
amid the wonders of a phenomenal century. Whether we look at the 
increase of edifices or the multiplication of communicants, the results in 
either case are sufficient for both congratulation and amazement. Were it 
possible to obtain from the earlier records exact statistics of the actual num- 
ber of edifices and communicants existing at the opening of the century, 
comparison would be comparatively easy. Such, however, is not the case, the 
records having been imperfectly kept and indifferently preserved. The cen- 
sus of 1890, indeed, was the first to furnish exhaustive and really reliable 
results. 

Taking that census as a basis, and adding to its figures those to be obtained 




FATHER DAMIEN, MISSIONARY TO 
HAWAIIAN LEPER COLONY. 



152 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 

from the year books of the various bodies up to and including 1894, the 
religious strength of the United States may be summarized as follows : 
Churches, 189,488 ; religious organizations, 158,695 ; ordained ministers, 
114,823; members or communicants, 15,217,948 ; value of church property, 
$670,000,000 ; seating capacity of churches, 43,000,000, while in the 23,000 
places where organizations which own no edifices hold their services, 
accommodations could be found for 2,250,000 more. In the majority of the 
Protestant churches, at least two services are held on each Sabbath ; in the 
Catholic, six or seven. 

Granting these premises, it is but reasonable to say that if, on any given 
day, the entire population of the country should desire to attend at least one 
religious service, accommodations coufll readily be found for the entire num- 
ber, — ample proof that the spiritual interests of the millions are by no 
means neglected so far as privileges of worship are concerned. It is a show- 
ing all the more remarkable when we consider that all this vast provision is 
furnished on the basis of voluntary offerings, the state contributing not a 
dollar for religious purposes. It is probable that in these churches and 
edifices, on Sabbaths and on weekdays, not less than 15,000,000 services are 
held each year, to say nothing of sessions of Sunday-schools, meetings of 
Young People's Associations, and gatherings of kindred character. In them, 
too, not less than ten millions of sermons and addresses on religious themes 
are annually delivered. 

The number of enrolled communicants, or members, however, by no means 
expresses the real strength of the religious life of the nation. To get at that, 
we must multiply each Protestant communicant by the 2.5 adherents allowed 
in all statistical calculations. Proceeding on this basis, omitting for the time 
all Catholics, Jews, Theosophists, members of Societies for Ethical Culture, 
Spiritualists, Latter-Pay Saints, and kindred bodies, and multiplying the 
15,200,000 Protestant members by 2.5, we have over 50,000,000 as the total 
Protestant population of the country. Adding to these 50,000.000 the Cath- 
olic population, estimated by Catholic authorities as being 15 per cent, larger 
than the number of Catholic communicants, we have 57,062,000 as the total 
Christian population, leaving only about 7,000,000 who are neither com- 
municants nor adherents. Of the 7,000,000 opposed, for various reasons, to 
the churches, comparatively few are to be reckoned as either infidels or 
atheists ; while, on the other hand, it is true that of the 57,000,000 reckoned 
as either communicants or adherents, millions are Christians only in name, 
either never attending the services of the churches, or at the best only at 
rare intervals. Gratifying as is this splendid exhibit of religious devotion on 
the part of the American people, the fact that there are millions in our land 
whose allegiance to Christian doctrine is but nominal, with millions more upon 
whose lives religion exercises no appreciable influence whatever, is a sufficient 
proof of the enormous task yet confronting the churches of Christ, if we are 
to stand before the nations as the great distinctive Christian nation of the 
world. The stupendous gain, however, in ninety-four years, of over 14,853,- 
076 in Protestant churches alone is a record of religious progress unparalleled 
in the history of the world. 

Advancing to the question of distribution of the religious forces enumer- 
ated, we find that while these forces are distributed throughout every State 



THE CENTURY'S RELIGIOUS PROGRESS 



153 



and under one hundred and forty -three denominational names, they are, never- 
theless, massed largely in a few denominations and in a comparatively few 
States. Competent authorities estimate that the five largest denominations 
comprise fully 60 per cent, of the entire number of communicants ; the ten 
largest, 75 per cent. With respect to communicants, the Catholic Church is 
first, with 7,510,000 ; the Methodist (all bodies) second, with 5,405,076 ; the 




YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION BUILDING. PHILADELPHIA. 



Baptist third, with 3,717,373 ; the Presbyterian fourth, with 1,278,332 ; the 
Lutheran fifth, with 1,233,072. 

With respect to population, reckoning the Catholic population at 7,510,000 
— which figures include children under ten years of age — and adding to the 
communicant strength of the four other bodies mentioned the 2.5 adherents 
allowed for each communicant, we have the following : Methodist population, 
18,918,466 ; Baptist, 12,990,805 ; Presbyterian, 5,525,162 ; Lutheran, 4,358,- 
752 ; total Protestant population, 50,000,000 ; Catholic, 7,510,000. 

With respect to value of church property, the Methodists are first with 



154 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



$132,000,000 ; the Catholics second, $118,000,000 ; the Presbyterians third, 
with $95,000,000 ; the Episcopalians fourth, with $82,835,000 ; the Baptists 
fifth, with $82,390,000. The total value of church property, reckoning all 
denominations, reaches the enormous sum of $670,000,000. 

To further particularize with respect to the lesser groups into which the 
religious forces are divided is impossible within the limits allowed for this 
chapter. To do it would require a volume instead of a chapter. The follow- 
ing summary, however, may suffice to show the gain of a century of religious 
effort : — 



Year. 


Ministers. 


Organiza- 
tions. 


Communicants 
or Members. 


1800 .... 


2,651 


3,030 


364,872 


1850 .... 


25,555 


43,072 


3,529,988 


1870 .... 


47,609 


70,148 


6,673,396 


1880 .... 


69,870 


97,090 


10,065,963 


1890 .... 


98,185 


151,172 


13,823,518 


1894 .... 


114,823 


158,695 


. 15,217,948 



When one remembers that one hundred years ago it was a common boast 
of infidels that " Christianity would not survive two generations in this 
country," the above exhibit shows a religious progress unequaled in the his- 
tory of the kingdom of God in any land or any age. 

Turning to the field of missionary effort, we find that the spread of the 
Christian religion by missionary efforts, particularly during the last one hun- 
dred years, forms one of the brightest chapters in the records of human pro- 
gress. Within this period, the triumphs of the first three centuries have been 
far more than repeated. 

Following these early victories of the Christian faith came on, as all know, 
ages of darkness, dreary centuries, during the progress of which the power 
of the church gradually waned, and, with respect to purely spiritual activities, 
seemed to die away. The voice of exhortation ceased to be heard. Christian 
song was hushed. Even prayer closed its supplicating lips, and the church, 
overladen with corruption, worldliness, and human ambition, passed into the 
thick darkness of the long and disastrous eclipse of the Middle Ages. But 
amid the widespread darkness enveloping the world, even the ages known as 
the " Dark Ages " were not without their gleams of light. Among the Sara- 
cens and in the lands of the Orient, always were to be found heroic men and 
women toiling ceaselessly for the conversion of heathen nations to the Christ. 
Later on, subsequent to the thirteenth century, and especially during the 
centuries immediately following the discovery of the New World, the desire 
for the Christianizing of the world flamed into an all-absorbing passion. The 
tremendous labors of Xavier, of Loyola, and their followers, in every quarter 
of the globe, have long been the wonder and admiration of the world. Checked 
in Europe by the rise of the great Protestant Reformation, the Catholic 
Church turned its energies to the acquisition of spiritual power in other 
lands, and with enormous success. Along the banks of the St. Lawrence, 



THE CENTURY'S RELIGIOUS PROGRESS 



155 



amid the wilds of Canadian forests, far away on the shores of the Great 
Lakes, thence southward to the Ohio, along the Mississippi, even to the 
Gulf ; in far Cathay, in Ceylon, in Japan, in China, in Africa, — everywhere 
its missionaries could be found, heedless of hunger, of cold, of peril, reck- 
less even of life, if by any means, whether by life or by death, they might 
" sprinkle many nations " and establish the holy emblem of the Christian 
faith. 

Absorbed in the struggles going on in their own lands, Protestants made 
but little effort for the extension of the gospel in foreign fields, save the 
few but successful attempts made by the Moravians of Germany, always the 
most zealous of all Protestant bodies in lines of missionary service. What, 




BAPTIST MISSION SCHOOL, JAPAN. 



however, was lacking in the way of missionary effort in the seventeenth and 
eighteenth centuries has been more than made good in the glorious nine- 
teenth, the distinctive missionary century of the Christian era. In the room 
of seven societies organized for world-wide gospel evangelization at the end of 
the last century, there are now in Europe and America between seventy and 
eighty organizations, employing a force of nearly three thousand American 
and European missionaries, and perhaps four times that number of native 
assistants. Eull $10,000,000 are annually raised among the Protestant bodies 
alone for missionary service, while the great Roman Catholic Church prose- 
cutes its work with a zeal equally unflagging. A brief survey of the progress 
of a hundred years of missionary effort will make it clear to all minds that 
the day is not far distant when the declaration of the prophet, " The earth 
shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, even as the waters 
cover the sea," shall have abundant and magnificent realization. 

At the beginning of this century, every island of the vast Pacific was 
closed against the gospel. To-day, nearly every one is under the influence, 



156 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

more or less extended, of Christian civilization. India, from Cape Comorin 
to the Punjaub, from the Punjaub to the Himalayas, from the Himalayas to 
Thibet, — at whose gates the gospel is now knocking, — has been covered 
with a network of mission stations, schools, colleges, and churches, closer by 
far in its interlacings than that which at the close of the third century had 
spread itself over the vast empire of the Caesars. Of the Indian Archipelago, 
Sumatra, Java, Borneo, the Celebes, New -Guinea, not to mention smaller 
groups of islands, are feeling the new life ever imparted by the advent of the 
Cross. Japan, too, hungry for reform, and full of the stir of the age, by 
granting entrance to the gospel, has within its borders already a numerous 
Christian population with scores of evangelical congregations. The same is 
true of the hermit nation, Corea. In the lands of Islam, from Bagdad to 
the Balkans, from Egypt to Persia, and throughout all Turkey, are to be 
found centres of missionary enterprise, the vast influence of which is now 
being sensibly felt in the changing life of those remarkable peoples. In Bur- 
mah, and recently in Siam, after years of patient and apparently hopeless 
service, fields are everywhere " white unto the harvest." China, most popu- 
lous of all heathen lands, is open to missionary effort from Canton to Peking, 
from Shanghai to Hon-Chow. Africa also, once, in its northern sections at 
least, the home of the learning, the art, the science, the religion of the world, 
awakening from the sleep of long and dreary centuries under the influence 
of Christian civilization, again demands the attention of the great nations of 
the world. Everywhere, east, west, north, south, it is being invaded all 
along the line of Cecil Rhodes' great railway, stretching northward from Cape 
Town for three thousand miles, to meet the twenty-six hundred pushing down 
from the north, — from Senegal to Gaboon and from Gaboon to the Congo ; 
on the shores of Tanganyika and along the banks of the Zambesi shine the 
lights of the gospel, which, wherever it has gone, has been the harbinger of a 
new and brighter day. Within the mighty domains of our own continent, upon 
the immense plains reaching from Labrador to the Pacific, upon the sterile 
coasts of Alaska, in the land of the Montezumas, in Central America, in 
South America, from Panama to Terra-del-Fuego, equally marvelous have 
been the steady gains resulting from a Christianity the forces of which, like 
the waters that enrich the continent, penetrate all the bays and estuaries of 
human society and influence all classes and conditions of men. Looking upon 
the transformations effected by the labors of a single century of Christian 
effort, one may surely say, " The peoples that walked in darkness have seen 
a great light ; they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them 
hath the light shined." 

Equally wonderful have been the vast contributions of the church in Amer- 
ica to the great causes of education, philanthropy, and reform, particularly in 
the line of educational work. The service of the church in the great cause 
of education has never yet been fully recognized. Men forget, when char- 
ging the church with hostility to human progress, to freedom of thought and 
action, that until within a period of seventy years nearly everything accom- 
plished for popular education was carried out under the auspices of the 
churches rather than under the direction of the state. Until 1825, the state 
had done next to nothing even in the development of its common schools. 
In the great State of Pennsylvania, the system had no existence until the 



THE CENTURY'S RELIGIOUS PROGRESS 



157 



year 1835. Even to-day, among the four hundred and fifty institutions of 
higher education in the various States, nearly all owe their foundation to the 
energy and sacrifice of Christian men and women. The total gifts of the 
churches to the cause of education, still existent in plant, in grounds and 
buildings, or in the form of endowment funds, reach the enormous aggregate 
of nearly $350,000,000, while the total of gifts to institutions of learning, 
largely from Christian sources, aggregate nearly $ 10,000,000 per year. 




HETHODIST EPISCOPAL. HOSPITAL, PHILADELPHIA. 

The religious activity of the century is further manifested in the enor- 
mous sums raised and expended for purposes of charity, reform, and general 
philanthropy. It would require an octavo volume of four hundred pages to 
catalogue the various benevolent and charitable organizations in the city of 
New York alone. Add to that volume the hundreds more which would be 
required to enumerate the additional thousands to be found in Philadelphia, 
Chicago, Boston, — in fact in every city, town, and hamlet from the Atlantic 
to the Pacific, nine tenths of which are distinctively Christian, — and you 
have a faint idea, at least, of the vastness of the spiritual forces at work in 



158 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

these closing years of the century for the amelioration of human ill, the dis- 
pelling of moral and spiritual darkness, and the ushering in of the era of 
peace and good will, for the coming of which the church has so ceaselessly 
prayed. What these philanthropies are we cannot in detail enumerate. Clas- 
sified, they are for the poor, for the laboring classes, for the sick, for fallen 
women, for free schools, for the aged, for the blind, the deaf, the insane, the 
impotent, the degraded, the outcast, for sailors, for the protection of animals, 
for city evangelization, for home missions, for foreign missions, for religious 
publications, for the publishing of the Holy Scriptures, for peace, for Young 
Men's Associations, Young Women's Associations, for every cause that appeals 
to the sentiment of brotherhood so characteristic of the age. In number 
they are legion. In origin, three fourths are the outgrowth of that spirit of 
Christian love without which they could not have been originated, and by 
which they are maintained and perpetuated. Those who assert that within 
this century Christianity has done more for humanity than in all the centu- 
ries preceding are doubtless correct. It has made men kind, made them 
humane. It has penetrated prisons, and with beneficent change. It has 
lifted the prisoner from damp and dreary dungeons into commodious struc- 
tures, the pride of city and State. So far, indeed, have the reforms inspired 
by the gospel been carried, that men are beginning to inquire whether the 
limit has not been reached beyond which it may be dangerous to go. 

Such are the general facts of the religious progress of a century in the 
United States. Reviewing them, we can easily discern the vast and com- 
manding influence of religion — the Christian religion — upon the character 
and fortunes of our people. Among the forces working for the upbuilding 
of the Republic, religion stands preeminent, the most powerful, the most 
pervasive, the most irresistible of them all. A free church in a free state, 
all its edifices have been built by private contribution, all its magnificent 
benefactions sustained by voluntary offerings, induced in every instance by 
the principle of Christian love. A corporation, it holds its vast properties 
for the common good of all. A relief society, the scope of its sympathies 
is as wide as the wants of man. A university, it does more for the educa- 
tion of the masses than the public school system itself. An employer of 
labor, it utilizes the brains and energies of the most highly educated 1 tody 
of men to be found in the Republic's broad domain. An organized benefi- 
cence, it outwatches Argus with his hundred eyes, outworks Briareus with 
his hundred arms. An asylum, it gathers within its protecting arms the 
halt, the maimed, the wounded of life's great battle, comforting them in 
trouble, sustaining them in adversity, while ceaselessly pointing them to 
Him "who taketh away the sins of the world." "Every corner-stone it 
lays," as one has said, " it lays for humanity ; every temple it opens, it opens 
for the world ; every altar it establishes, it establishes for the salvation of 
men. Its spires are fingers pointing heavenward ; its ministers are messen- 
gers of good tidings ; its ambassadors, ambassadors of hope ; its angels 
angels of mercy." Under all our institutions rest the Bible and the school- 
house, — Christianity and Education. Without them, the Republic is impos- 
sible ; with them, we have Republican America for a thousand years. 



GREAT GROWTH OF LIBRARIES 

By JAMES P. BOYD, A.M., L.B. 

Libraries are as old as civilization. Nothing marks civilized progress 
more distinctly than the collections of writings, whether on clay, stone, 
wood, papyrus, or parchment, which went to make up the libraries of an- 
cient peoples. Such writings generally related to religion, laws, and con- 
quests, and found their abode, in the form of archives, in capitals and 
temples. Recent explorations in Mesopotamia reveal collections, or libraries, 
of books inscribed on clay tablets, many of whose dates are beyond 650 b. c. 
These libraries seem to have found a home for the most part in royal palaces, 
and to have contained works abounding in instruction for the kings' subjects. 
As unearthed and their contents deciphered, they throw much valuable light 
upon the remote history, as well as the arts, sciences, and literatures of Baby- 
lonia and Assyria. 

In ancient Egypt collections of hieroglyphic writings were made in temples 
and in the tombs of kings from the earliest known dates. Some hieroglyphics 
still extant bear date prior to 2000 b. c, and one papyrus manuscript has been 
discovered whose supposed date is 1600 b. c. What were known as the sacred 
Books of Thoth — forty -two in number — constituted the Egyptian encyclo- 
paedia of religion and science, and became such a fruitful source of commen- 
tary and exposition, that by the time of the Grecian conquest they had grown 
in number of volumes to 36,325. 

Of the libraries of the Greeks we have little positive knowledge, though it 
is abundantly asserted by late compilers that large collections of books (writ- 
ings) once existed in the various Grecian cities. Pisistratus is said to have 
founded a library at Athens as early as 537 b. c. Strabo says that Aristotle 
collected the first known library in Greece, which he bequeathed to Theo- 
phrastus (b. c. 322), and which, by the vicissitude of war, finally found its 
way to Rome. At Cnidus there is said to have existed a special collection of 
works upon medicine. Xenophon speaks of the library of Euthydemus. 
Euclid and Plato are mentioned as book collectors. But by far the most re- 
nowned book collectors of the Greeks were the Ptolemies of Egypt, who 
gathered from Hellenic, Hebrew, and Egyptian sources that wonderful collec- 
tion of volumes, or rolls, which became famous as the Alexandrine Library. 
This was composed of two libraries, one estimated at 42,800 volumes, or rolls, 
connected with the Academy, the other estimated at 490,000 volumes, or rolls, 
deposited in the Serapeum. It is said that these immense collections were 
regularly catalogued and kept under the -supervision of competent librarians, 
till consumed by the Saracens at the time of their conquest of Egypt, a. d. 
640. 

The Romans at first paid little attention to literature. It is not until the 
last century of the republic that we hear of a library at Rome, and then it was 
not a native collection but a spoil of war. It was captured from Perseus of 



160 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 

Macedonia and brought to Rome in b. c. 167. 80 Sulla captured the library 
of Apellicon, at Athens, in b. c. 86, and brought it to Rome. Lucullus brought 
to Rome a rich store of literature from his eastern conquests (b. c. 67). 
Wealthy men and scholars now began to form libraries at Rome, some of 
which became very large and valuable. It is here we first hear of the dedica- 
tion of libraries to the public, — a step which made Rome for a time the resort 
of scholars from other nations, especially Greece. The most famous of the 
many imperial libraries of Rome was that founded by Ulpius Trajanus. It 
was called the Ulpian Library, and was at first founded in the forum of Trajan, 
but afterwards removed to the baths of Diocletian. In the fourth century 
there are said to have been as many as twenty-eight public libraries in Rome. 
Great, indeed, must have been their destruction under various vicissitudes, 
for when the Emperor Constantine moved the Roman capital to Constantino- 
ple, and founded his imperial library there, it numbered but a few thousand 
books. It was, however, greatly enlarged after his death — some say to 
100,000 volumes. It was destroyed in a. d. 476, with the close of the Western 
Empire. 

With the spread of Christianity there arose a new incentive to write and 
collect books. The church required both a literature and libraries as part 
of its organization. Pamphilus is said to have collected a library of 30,000 
volumes, chiefly religious, at Csesarea (a. d. 309), his object being to lend them 
out to readers. But as book-making and collecting became narrowed to the 
church, general literature was proscribed and libraries ceased to flourish, ex- 
cept as encouraged by the monastic orders. Such libraries were necessarily 
small and of a private character. Their books were manuscripts written or 
copied by the priests, up to the date of the invention of printing. The 
libraries of this class which grew in importance were those of the Swiss and 
Irish monasteries, not omitting those in England, as at Canterbury and York. 
The invasion of the Norsemen, in the ninth and tenth centuries, was gener- 
ally fatal to the monastic libraries on both sides of the English channel. 

In France, the library at Fulda seemed to retain its books and respect. It 
was greatly enlarged by Charlemagne, who also founded a more ostentatious 
one at Tours. With the revival of learning, and with the hope of opening a 
wider field to secular literature, Charles VI., of France, founded a royal library 
which numbered 1100 volumes by A. d. 1411. A similar library in England, 
that of the British crown, numbered 329 volumes at the time of Henry VIII. 
In contrast with these early royal efforts stood that of Corvinus, king of Hun- 
gary, whose library numbered 50,000 volumes, mostly manuscripts, in 1490. 
This imperial collection was burned by the Turks in 1540. About this time 
the nucleus of the modern Laurentian Library of Florence was formed. 

In 1556, the Bibliotheque Rationale, or royal library of France, at Paris, 
was endowed by the king with power to demand a copy of every book printed 
in France. This power became the basis of the copyright tax, now univer- 
sally levied by civilized nations, and which has been the means of greatly en- 
riching all government libraries. In 1556 the royal library of France could 
boast of but 2000 volumes. In 1789 it contained 200,000 volumes, the largest 
number of any library then existing. At the end of the nineteenth century 
it still retains the distinction of being the most extensive library in the world, 
containing approximately 3,000,000 volumes. , 



162 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

In Italy the libraries, though venerable and very rich in rare collections of 
manuscripts, are not noted for the number of books which represent modern 
literature. The most noted library is the Biblioteca Vaticana, or library of 
the Vatican. It traces a vague history back to the fifth century, but its real 
foundation was in 1455. The number of volumes and manuscripts on its 
shelves is approximately 300,000. 

In Spain and Portugal are national libraries in their respective capitals, 
Madrid and Lisbon. The national library of Spain contains some 560.000 
volumes and manuscripts, while that of Lisbon contains over 200,000. Bel- 
gium and Holland are rich in libraries. The royal library at Brussels con- 
tains over 400,000 volumes. In 1830 it was made a part of the state archives 
and thrown open to the public. The national library of Holland was estab- 
lished in 1798 by uniting the library of the princes of Orange with the smaller 
libraries of the defunct states. It thus became the library of the States-Gen- 
eral, but in 1815 it was converted into the present national library. It has a 
very valuable collection of books, numbering over 400,000. One of the best 
arranged and managed libraries in Europe is the Royal Library at Copen- 
hagen. It was thrown open to the public in 1793, and has since been con- 
ducted under national auspices. Two copies of every book published in the 
kingdom must be deposited in this library. Its volumes have increased very 
rapidly during the nineteenth century, and now number over 550,000. The 
Royal Library of Sweden is located at Stockholm. It contains over 350,000 
valuable volumes, and is admirably arranged and conducted. The Univer- 
sity Library at Upsala is also a very valuable one, containing 300,000 vol- 
umes. There is also an excellent library of over 100,000 volumes connected 
with the university at Lund. The libraries of Norway, though not so large 
as those of Sweden, are numerous, valuable, and well managed. The Univer- 
sity Library at Christiana contains over 330,000 volumes. In Russia, large 
and. valuable libraries are not numerous outside of the cities of St. Petersburg, 
Moscow, and Warsaw. The Imperial Library at St. Petersburg ranks as the 
richest in Europe, excepting the libraries of Paris and the British Museum. 
It is open to the public, and contains approximately 1,200,000 volumes. 

Germany, with her multiplicity of minor capitals, her love of books and 
book-making, her numerous universities, excels every other European country 
in the number, extent, and value of her libraries. The largest is the Royal 
Library at Berlin, with approximately 1,000,000 volumes. It was founded 
by the " Great Elector " Frederick William, and opened as a public library in 
10C>1. The Royal Library at Munich long rated as the largest in Germany, 
with its 1,200,000 volumes, inclusive of pamphlets, the latter numbering some 
500,000. But it was thought to be unfair to class so many small and incon- 
sequential works as books, so that the library at Berlin was given precedence. 
Still the Munich library is particularly rich in incunabula and other treasures 
derived from the monasteries, which were closed in 1803. The University 
library at Munich is also very rich in similar treasures. It contains well 
nigh 500,000 volumes. The other large libraries of Germany are the Univer- 
sity library at Leipsic, with over 500,000 volumes ; the Royal and City library 
at Augsburg, with 123,000; the Royal, at Bamberg, with 300,000 volumes ; 
the University at Bonn, with 220,000 volumes ; the Grand Ducal at Darm- 
stadt, with 400,000 volumes ; the Royal Public, at Dresden, with 410,000 



164 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

volumes ; the University at Erlangen, with 185,000 volumes ; the City, at 
Frankfort, with 190,000 volumes ; the University at Freiburg, with 250,000 
volumes ; the University at Giessen, with 160,000 volumes ; the Ducal Public, 
at Gotha, with 210,000 volumes ; the Royal University at Gottingen, with 
490,000 volumes ; the City at Hamburg, with 510,000 volumes ; the University 
at Heidelberg, with 410,000 volumes ; the University at Jena, with 200,000 
volumes ; the University at Kiel, with 225,000 volumes ; the University at 
Rostock, with 310,000 volumes ; the University at Strassburg, with over 
700,000 volumes ; the University at Tubingen, with 320,000 volumes ; the 
Grand Ducal at Weimar, with 230,000 volumes ; the Brunswick Ducal, at 
"Wolfenbiittel, with over 300,000 volumes. Resides these there are numerous 
others attached to various universities or publicly organized which have 
100,000 volumes each. 

In Austria-Hungary, the largest library is that of the Imperial Public, at 
Vienna. It was founded in 1440 by Emperor Frederick III., and has ever 
since been munificently supported by the Austrian princes. Few libraries in 
Europe contain more important collections or are better organized and housed. 
Its volumes number 540*000. Admission to its reading room is free, but the 
books are loaned out under rigid restrictions. The University Library of 
Vienna was founded by Maria Theresa, and has grown very rapidly, number- 
ing nearly 500,000 volumes. In Vienna alone the number of libraries exceed 
one hundred, many of them of considerable extent. The various university 
libraries throughout Austria-Hungary are rich in volumes, particularly that 
at Cracow, with over 306,000 volumes, and at Innsbruck, with 175,000 volumes. 
The National Library at Budapest, Hungary, and also the University at the 
same place, have rich collections, numbering 465,000 and 212,000 volumes 
respectively. 

In Switzerland libraries are very numerous and well conducted. The 
largest is that at Basel. It is called the Public University Library, and num- 
bers 187,000 volumes. The next largest is the City Library, at Zurich, with 
135,000 volumes. The smaller libraries of Switzerland exceed two thousand 
in number, and are, as a rule, rich in literary treasures descended from the 
ancient monasteries, 

Though by no means as ancient as some others, the leading library of Great 
Britain, and the second in extent and importance in the world, — the National, 
at Paris, France, being first, — has had a phenomenal growth. It is located at 
London, and is known as the British Museum. It dates from 1753, when Parlia- 
ment purchased, for £20,000, the Sir Hans Sloane collection, and afterwards 
consolidated therewith many other valuable collections. It was given the 
privilege of copyright, by which means, and by frequent and fortunate private 
bequests of books, it grew apace and became a national repository, not only 
of home-written works, but of the literature and rarities of all nations. The 
number of its volumes at present exceeds 1,650,000. London does not contain 
many public libraries, but there are numerous collections of scientific and 
special works of great value to those pursuing certain lines of knowledge. 
The second largest and most important collection in England is that of the 
Bodleian Library of Oxford, with some 530,000 volumes ; followed by that of 
the University of Cambridge, with some 510,000 volumes. Next in extent and 
importance in Great Britain is the library of the Faculty of Advocates, in 



GREAT GROWTH OF LIBRARIES 165 

Edinburgh, Scotland. It dates from 1682, and contains at present about 
400,000 volumes. The library of Trinity College, Dublin, was founded contem- 
poraneously with the Bodleian, and easily ranks as the largest and most im- 
portant in Ireland, with its 200,000 volumes, to which about 3000 are added 
annually. What has been said of the dearth of public libraries in London is 
in part true of all Great Britain. There are not a score of libraries in all her 
European domain that number over 100.000 volumes, and it is only within 
the nineteenth century that the public or free library system began to grow 
in favor. Indeed, such growth may be said to date from as late a period as 
1850, when the Manchester Free Reference Library was established. It has 
shown in fifty years a most marvelous growth, and contains at present some 
255,000 volumes. 

Great Britain has not neglected to encourage the use of libraries among 
her colonists. At Ottawa, Canada, is the library of Parliament. Tt was 
founded in 1815, and grew slowly till 1841, when the two libraries of Upper 
and Lower < anada were consolidated. It was subsequently destroyed by fire, 
and in 1§55 reestablished. Since then it has grown rapidly, and at present 
contains over 150,000 volumes. The Laval University library, at Quebec, is 
the next most extensive in Canada, containing over 100,000 volumes. The 
South African Public Library was founded at Cape Town in 1818, and has 
grown to contain some 50,000 volumes, many of them of great importance as 
bearing on the languages and customs of African peoples. In Australia are 
many libraries of considerable extent, whose volumes are, as a rule, free to all 
readers. The largest of these is at Melbourne, and is called the Public 
Library of Victoria. It is a collection of considerably over 150,000 books 
and pamphlets, many of which relate to Australasian themes. The Sidney 
Free Public Library is next to that at Melbourne in importance. It is said 
to contain the largest collection of works special to Australia in the world. 

The book collections of China, and indeed throughout the Orient, are by 
no means inconsiderable, and the favorite works relate to religion, philo- 
sophy, poetry, history, and the sciences. They are generally large and of 
encyclopaedic style and proportions. Thus a Chinese history of national 
events from the third century b. c. to the seventeenth a. d. occupies sixty- 
six volumes, as bound in European style for the British Museum. Libraries 
in Japan are more numerous, convenient, and extensive than in China and 
elsewhere in the Orient. The University library at Tokio, Japan, contains 
well nigh 200,000 volumes. 

Of South American libraries the largest is the National, at Rio Janeiro, 
Brazil, with some 240,000 volumes. The other republics of South America 
which passed through their wars for independence and their formative pe- 
riods, not to say their internal jealousies and strifes, during the nineteenth 
century, have had but little opportunity or inclination to collect large libraries. 
Yet the spirit of education is by no means dormant, and the nuclei of many 
libraries have been formed, in which much pride is taken, and which bid 
fair to grow great in importance as scholarship expands and other fostering 
conditions come to prevail more generally. Even in the small and tumultu- 
ous republics of Central America there are some valuable collections of books 
which, in the course of time, will be greatly augmented and prove a source of 
literary and national pride. Notwithstanding all the ups and downs of the 



166 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 




Mexican republic during the century, she has, since the separation of church 
and state in 1857, evolved a creditable educational system, and built up many 
excellent libraries, especially in the capital, Mexico. The largest of these is 
the National, which contains over 100,000 volumes. 

The growth of libraries in the United States during the nineteenth century 
has been phenomenal. If its leading libraries have not yet matched those of 
the old world in extent, they are, nev- 
ertheless, unique in their freshness, ex- 
ceptional in their number, original in 
their systems, and most effective in their 
uses. And what is here said of the 
leading libraries is still more true of the 
smaller, for in no country has the library 
system so ramified as in the United 
States, and come down to such close 
touch with the people. Not only cities, 
towns, and even villages have their li- 
braries, but States, schools, and myriads 
of special organizations, all of which are 
centres of culture and sources of literary 
pride. 

The oldest library in the United States 
is that of Harvard College. It was 
founded in 1638, and was destroyed by 
fire in 1764. It was speedily restored, 
and became the recipient of many pri- 
vate donations, which not only greatly 
increased the number of its volumes, but placed it in possession of a hand- 
some endowment fund. Since its removal to Gore Hall, in 1840, it has been 
open to the public for reading within its walls, but only the students of the 
university and other privileged persons may borrow books. Its present col- 
lection numbers over half a million of volumes of books and pamphlets. In 
the year 1700, two other libraries were founded, — that of Yale College, and 
that which afterwards became known as the New York Society Library. The 
first of these grew very slowly until the beginning of the nineteenth century, 
when it took on nS w life, and at the end of the century contains some 250,000 
volumes. The latter also grew very slowly, and in 1754 became a subscrip- 
tion library. It is peculiarly the library of the old Knickerbocker families 
and their descendants, and the number of its volumes gravitates around 
100,000. 

In 1731, Benjamin Franklin projected what he called a "subscription 
library" at Philadelphia. It was incorporated as the Library Company of 
Philadelphia, and grew rapidly through bequests of books and money. In 
1792 it absorbed the very valuable Loganian Library, and in 1869 Dr. Benja- 
min Rush left a bequest of over $1,000,000 to found its Bidgeway Branch- 
The building erected for this purpose is, with the exception of the new Library 
of Congress structure at Washington, the handsomest, most commodious, and 
best arranged for library purposes of any in the United States. The collec- 
tion of the Library Company of Philadelphia, commonly called the Philadel- 



JOHN RUSSELL YOUNG. 
First Librarian of New Library of Congress. 



GREAT GROWTH OF LIBRARIES 167 

phia Library, now numbers well nigh 200,000 volumes. Of the sixty-four 
libraries in the United States reported to have been founded before the year 
1800, thirty were established between 1775 and 1800. The more important of 
these — that is, those which rank as 20,000- volume libraries and over — are 
the Massachusetts Historical Society Library, at Boston, founded in 1791 ; 
the Georgetown College Library, at Georgetown, D. C, founded in 1791 ; the 
Dartmouth College Library, at Hanover, N. H., founded in 1769 ; the Columbia 
College Library, New York City, founded in 1754 ; the library of the College 
of Physicians, at Philadelphia, founded in 1789 ; the College of New Jersey 
Library, at Princeton University, founded in 1740; the Brown University 
Library, at Providence, R. I., founded in 1708 ; the Department of State 
Library and House of Representatives Library, Washington, D. C, founded 
in 1789; the Williams College Library, at Williamstown^ Mass., founded in 
1793. 

Prom this standpoint we get a fair view of the tremendous strides of library 
growth in the United States during the nineteenth century. The sixty-four 
libraries of 1800 have grown to well nigh four thousand, not counting those of 
less than 1000 volumes ; and the less than 500,000 volumes of 1800 have in- 
creased to well nigh 30.000,000, omitting those in libraries of less than a 
thousand volumes. Over six hundred libraries in the United States take 
rank as 20,000- volume libraries and over, at the end of the century ; and in 
the six statistical years between 1888 and 1893, which mark the greatest ratio 
of increase in volumes, there was a growth equal to 66 per cent over all that 
had preceded. 

Nor has the century been more triumphant and wonderful in the accumula- 
tion of volumes and the number of book repositories than in the variety of sys- 
tems and multiplicity of agencies by means of which library information is 
arranged and disseminated. Conspicuous among these has been the inaugura- 
tion and growth of the free library system, by means of which public funds are 
provided for the support of libraries whose use is free to all. Hardly less con- 
spicuous, and perhaps even more far reaching, has been the adoption by many 
States of the school-district library system, which draws upon a certain pro- 
portion of the school fund for the collection and maintenance of the district 
library. Again, most of the States have established libraries of their own for 
public use, and as centres to which may be gathered and whence may be dis- 
seminated the knowledge that appertains to the respective State localities. 
Special library systems have grown into great favor, covering and encouraging 
collections of historic works, of scientific literature, of information relating to 
law, medicine, theology, etc. In fact, there is hardly a line of investigation 
and mental activity that has not come to be represented in its library col- 
lections. 

At the head of all the century's library triumphs in the United States 
stands the Library of Congress. It is the national repository, and is to the 
country what the British Museum is to Great Britain and the Bibliotheque 
Nationale is to Prance. It was founded in 1800, when the seat of government 
was moved to Washington. In 1814 it was burned by the British soldiers, its 
home being then in the Capitol, which was also destroyed. The government 
purchased Thomas Jefferson's collection of 7000 volumes as the nucleus of a 
new library. This grew to contain 55,000 volumes by 1851, when all but 



GREAT GROWTH OF LIBRARIES 169 

20,000 volumes were again destroyed by an accidental tire. In 1852 it was 
refitted, the government appropriating $75,000 for the purpose. On the 
restoration of its halls in the Capitol, in fire-proof form, it began to grow 
rapidly in volumes. In 1866, it received the 40,000 volumes which consti- 
tuted the library of the Smithsonian Institute. In 1870, the privilege of 
copyright was transferred to it from the Patent Office. This, together with 
the annual appropriation made by Congress, served to give it a more rapid 
growth than ever, and to nationalize its importance. It speedily grew rich in 
collections of history, science, law, and every branch of literature appertain- 
ing to this and other countries. Under its privilege of copyright, two 
copies of every volume desiring such protection are required to be deposited 
within it. It must, therefore, ere long become quite fully representative of 
the literary productions of the country. In 1882, it was augmented by the 
presentation of the private collection of the late Dr. Joseph M. Toner, of 
Washington, containing 27,000 volumes and nearly as many pamphlets. By 
1890 it had outgrown its ability to accommodate its collections, and Congress 
made a very liberal appropriation for the erection of a new and separate 
library building, which was completed and occupied by 1897-98, the late 
Hon. John Russell Young being its first librarian. It is the largest, most 
elegant, and best fitted repository of books in the world, being capable of ac- 
commodating over 2,000,000 volumes. The public are privileged to use its 
books within the building, but only members of Congress and certain desig- 
nated officials of the Departments may take them away. It' is open from 9 
A. m. to 4 p. m., except upon Sundays and other legal holidays. Its location 
is on Capitol Hill, quite contiguous to the Capitol itself. 

A pioneer of the system of free libraries, and the one which comes next to 
the Library of Congress in the number of its volumes, is the Public Library 
of Boston, founded in 1848. It has had a phenomenal growth, and is the 
centre of a wide range of literary influence. Its numerous branches extend 
throughout the city and surrounding towns, bringing free reading to every 
locality. The number of its volumes exceeds 700,000. The free library 
system stands sponsor for a host of libraries throughout the larger cities. 
The Public Library of Cincinnati was founded upon this basis in 1867. It at 
once attained great popularity and speedily grew till, by the end of the cen- 
tury, its volumes numbered approximately 220,000. The same popularity and 
rate of growth characterized the Public Library of Chicago and that of Phila- 
delphia. The former was founded in 1872, and now contains over 220,000 
volumes. The latter was not founded until 1891, but by the year 1900 
it grew to contain 203,102 volumes, with fifteen branches, or divisions, 
throughout the city, and an annual circulation of 1,778,387 volumes. 

Other libraries of the United States founded or rehabilitated during the 
nineteenth century, and which ere its close have taken rank as libraries con- 
taining over 100,000 volumes, are the New York State Library, at Albany, 
with approximately 190,000 ; the State Library at Annapolis, Md., with 
100,000 volumes ; the Enoch Pratt Free Library, at Baltimore, with 165,000 
volumes ; the Peabody Institute Library, at Baltimore, with 125,000 volumes ; 
the Athenaeum Library, at Boston, with 185,000 volumes ; the City Library, 
at Brooklyn, N.Y., with 120,000 volumes ; the University Library, at Chicago, 
with nearly 400,000 volumes ; the Newberry Library, at Chicago, with 125,000 



170 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

volumes ; the Public Library at Detroit, with 135,000 volumes ; the Cornell 
University Library, at Ithaca, N. Y., with 175,000 volumes ; the library of the 
State Historical Society, at Madison, Wis., with 110,000 volumes ; the Mer- 
cantile Library, at Philadelphia, with 175,000 volumes ; the library of the 
University of Pennsylvania, with 120.000 volumes ; the Astor Library, New 
York City, with 265,000 volumes ; the Mercantile Library, New York City, 
with 250,000 volumes ; the Public Library at St. Louis, Mo., with 105,000 
volumes ; the Sutro Library, at San Francisco, with 210,000 volumes. 

Of those libraries founded during the century in the United States, 
and which have secured a rank as over 20,000- volume libraries, there are 
very many that approach the 100,000 mark, and their average of volumes 
would gravitate around 50,000. It is by no means true that the importance 
and usefulness of a library must be measured by its number of volumes. 
Very many of the best managed, serviceable, and popular libraries contain 
even less than 20,000 volumes. 

The spirit of knowledge which has created in the United States such a 
demand for libraries has been happily supplemented by a spirit of liberality. 
Nowhere in the world have there risen so many and such munificent donors of 
means to found and support libraries. Without appearing invidious, mention 
may well be made of some of these munificent givers and founders. Conspi- 
cuous among them is John Jacob Astor, founder of the Astor Library in New 
York City, with its splendid endowment fund of $1,100,000 ; James Lenox, 
who founded the Lenox Library of New York City, and invested in buildings 
and endowment $1,247,000 ; George Peabody, who founded, in 1857, at Balti- 
more, the Peabody Institute and Library, with an endowment of $1,000,000 ; 
Walter L. Newberry, of Chicago, who, in 1889, left $2,000,000 to found a free 
public library in the northern part of the city ; John Crerar, of Chicago, who 
left an immense estate to found and endow the Crerar Library ; Enoch Pratt, of 
Baltimore, who gave $1,150,000 to found the Enoch Pratt Free Library ; Dr. 
James Bush, of Philadelphia, who left, in 1869, a bequest of over $1,000,000 
to form the Bidgway Branch of the Philadelphia Library ; Andrew Carnegie, 
who founded the Pittsburgh Free Library and several others in different 
places. 

The century's progress in library management has kept pace with the 
growth of volumes. Cataloguing and arranging of books have been reducced 
to a science. Training of librarians and of students in the use of books has 
become an educational course in many higher institutions of learning. Library 
architecture and the numerous appliances for distributing books or rendering 
them accessible on the shelves, have all been improved, so that the library of 
the end of the century is as much a seductive retreat as a world of know- 
ledge. 



PROGRESS OF THE CENTURY IN ARCHITECTURE 

By WILLIAM MARTIN AIKEN, F.A.I.A., 

Former U. S. Supervising Architect. 

Towards the close of the last century there arose in England a decided 
fashion for Greek columns and pediments, which was brought about by the 
publication in 1762 of the discoveries by Stuart and Revett at Athens, and 
was still further stimulated by the bringing to England of the Elgin marbles 
in 1801, so that every building of any importance, whether church or 
school or country residence, had its portico with Doric, Ionic, or Corinthian 
columns. Thus began the Greek revival ; then followed the more slender col- 
umns, with arches and vaults, of the Roman ; and to these were very shortly 
added the cupola or the dome and the balustrade of the Renaissance. 

In London, the Bank of England by Sir John Soane, the British Museum 
by Robert Smirke (a pupil of Soane's), the University by Wilkins, were 
all built early in this century, as were the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, 
and the High School at Edinboro, magnificent colonnades adorning the front 
of each. St. Pancras Church, in London, has a spire of superimposed copies 
of the Temple of the Winds at Athens — each smaller than the one beneath 
it, — and there are side porches which reproduce the caryatid portico of the 
Pandroseum. But the most successful building in England which was de- 
signed upon Greek lines is St. George's Hall, Liverpool, which has a central 
hall lit from above ; at either end is a court-room, and beyond, at one end, is 
an Odeon, or Music Hall. 

The taste for classical design gradually declined in England, and a new 
cult was assiduously propagated through the writings of Pugin, Brandon, 
Rickman, and Parker, whose text was that classicism represented paganism, 
and this, together with the remodeling of Windsor Castle, in 1826, by Sir 
Jeffrey Wyatville, caused a general interest in the revival of Gothic archi- 
tecture ; for some time, however, much illiterate work was done in the adjust- 
ment of old forms to new conditions. 

Throughout the last half of this century, the battle of the styles has been 
maintained by the adherents of the differing schools with varying success, 
and, although there maybe notable examples to the contrary, it has virtually 
resulted in the adoption of Gothic designs for ecclesiastical buildings, condi- 
tions being much the same as formerly for these structures ; whereas, for 
secular buildings, with ever-changing requirements, the classic or the Renais- 
sance, which has shown even greater pliability, has been considered more 
appropriate. 

Among those whose success has been greatest in Gothic work may be men- 
tioned Sir Charles Barry, who was knighted for designing the Parliament 
Buildings, begun in 1840 and completed twenty years later ; George Gilbert 
Scott, who did the Assize Courts, in Manchester, and New Museum, Oxford ; 
George Edmund Street, whose Law Courts in London are so full of defects 
in plan yet so excellent in details; Alfred Waterhouse, whose interesting 



172 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

(Norman) Museum of Natural History gave substantial encouragement to 
the use of terra cotta; T. G. Jackson, the author of much collegiate archi- 
tecture at Oxford and elsewhere ; J. L. Pierson, the designer of eight 
churches in London; "William Burgess, Sir Arthur Blomfield, and James 
Brooks, all well known for the high character of their work, as is also J. D. 
Sedding, whose broad sympathies and refined spirit ranked him as one of 
the most talented men of his day. 

The first international exposition was held in London in 1851. and the 
single building in which it was contained was perhaps the most marvelous 
exhibit. It was designed by Sir Joseph Paxton, and was the first example of 
the use of iron and glass on a scale of such gigantic proportions. 

The so-called " Victorian Gothic " was used to a great extent for secular 
•work as late as 1870, and as it was much stimulated by the writings of Street 
upon Spain and Northern Italy and by Ruskin's " Stones of Venice,' 7 there 
were frequent attempts at polychromy, shown in the use of different colored 
stone, brick, and terra cotta, and, in the Albert Memorial, by means of 
mosaic. 

R. W. Edis and E. W. Godwin were among the foremost practitioners of 
the time, but in spite of the cleverness and boldness of design shown in some 
of their city and suburban buildings, neither they nor others could prolong 
the life of the fashion, and it presently yielded to the revival of a previous 
one, and the Renaissance forms of the time of Queen Anne became the vogue, 
especially for country houses, — nowhere more homelike than in England. 

In the suburb of Bedford Park, in Lowther Lodge, as in his designs for the 
Alliance Assurance Company and the new Scotland Yard, Norman Shaw 
showed the facility of his clever pencil, and Ernest George Peto gave many 
evidences of his skill and taste ; their work, however, often having a flavor 
of the Flemish. 

The building of the Thames Embankment, the opening of new streets, — 
such as Holborn Viaduct and Shaftesbury Avenue, — with the widening and 
straightening of others, have done much for the improvement of modern 
London. 

In France, there were very many important public buildings begun in the 
first ten years of this century, — during the reign of Napoleon I., — although 
some of them were not completely finished until the time of Napoleon III. 
(1848-1870). Among those in Paris were the Arc de l'Etoile by Chalgrin, the 
largest triumphal arch ever built, being similar in height and width to the front 
of Notre Dame Cathedral, omitting the upper portion of the towers ; Arc du 
Caroussel by Percier & Fontaine — both these arches commemorating the 
victories of Napoleon ; the churches of the Madeleine by Vignon, and of Ste. 
Genevieve, in honor of the great men of France ; and the wing connecting 
the palaces of the Tuileries with the Louvre, parallel to (but furthest from) 
the river. 

The Corps Legislatif, which was formerly the Palais Bourbon, was remod- 
eled in 1807 by Poyet, and has for its river front a portico with pediment 
sustained by twelve columns, a greater number than any other existing build- 
ing can show. 

If there be one style more than any other which needs sunshine and a clear 
atmosphere to show it to advantage, it is the classic ; and a Greek or Roman 



PROGRESS OF THE CENTURY IN ARCHITECTURE 



173 



temple in the atmosphere of fog, rain, and snow, of Edinboro, London, Munich, 
or even Paris, does not produce at all the same impression as if it were under 
the blue skies of Italy, Sicily, or Greece ; however, the frequent employment 
of classical motifs since the beginning of the century has contributed, to a 
degree unprecedented in modern times, towards placing Paris in the very 
foremost rank among the capitals of the world in the dignity and impressive- 
ness of its public buildings. 

The encouragement given to architecture in France by Napoleon I. was 
revived by Napoleon III. The remodeling of the streets, avenues, and boule- 
vards of Paris, under the direction of Baron Hausmann, while it swept away 




ARC DE i/ETOILE, PARIS. 



many landmarks of mediaeval Paris, contributed wonderfully to its stately 
elegance as well as to its hygiene ; the work begun upon the Louvre was com- 
pleted from designs by Visconti & Lefuel, and much entirely new work 
erected. There was a group of men, some of whom brought about the Neo- 
Grec movement, whose work was especially interesting, and although not 
extensively copied, yet exerted a marked influence for many years afterwards. 
These men were Labrouste, who designed the Library of Ste. Genevieve, about 
1830 ; Due, who remodeled the Palais de Justice ; Duban, who built the 
library for the School of Pine Arts, about 1845 ; Viollet le Due, who restored 
the Chateau de Pierrefonds, and wrote treatises and dictionaries upon archi- 
tecture, furniture, etc., and was instrumental in the organization of the Society 
for the Preservation of Historical Monuments. 



174 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX 1 " CENTURY 

Still later than these works are Vaudremer's Neo-Grec Church of St. Pierre 
de Montrouge, built in 1860, and Abadie's Byzantine Church of the Sacred 
Heart, still unfinished ; Baltard's Church of St. Augustin, of brick and cast- 
iron, and Central Market, of cast-iron and glass ; Garnier's Opera House, 
Hitorff's Northern Railway Station ; the Trocadero, built for the Exposition of 
1878 ; the Machinery Hall and Eiffel Tower, for that of 1889 ; together with a 
host of other public buildings, not only in Paris, but in other portions of 
France, many of which have served as examples to the student of architec- 
ture in other lands. 

In this connection we should not forget the debt we owe to the French nation. 
During the reign of Louis XIV. the School of Fine Arts was founded in Paris, 
where free instruction in painting, sculpture, and architecture is still given 
to all who pass satisfactorily the entrance examinations ; and in this school 
many of our successful architects have received gratuitous instruction from 
some of the distinguished men above mentioned. In the Department of Archi- 
tecture the chief characteristics are the thorough and systematic study of the 
plan, and the adaptation of building materials to the conditions of the design. 

Other European cities besides Paris have profited by the general prosperity 
of the century. St. Petersburg produces the effect of a city of palaces, the 
many residences of grand dukes and nobles, the number of public institutions, 
the riding schools, — much used on account of the severity of the climate, — 
and even the barracks, in spite of the free use of stucco, each contributing to 
a certain impression of stateliness ; the palace of the Archduke Michael, built 
by an Italian, Rossi, in 1820, is perhaps the most refined and dignified. Mus- 
covite architecture is most conspicuous in the elaborate and bulbous domes, 
curious not only in form, but in color, of the churches of St. Petersburg, of 
Moscow and Warsaw. 

King Louis of Bavaria, having lived in Rome when Crown Prince, culti- 
vated so great a fondness for the architecture of Greece and Italy, that when 
he came to the throne he commissioned his architects to design for his capital 
city of Munich the Walhalla, Ruhmeshalle, Glyptothek, and Pinakothek, after 
classical models. 

In Dresden, the most interesting buildings designed upon Greek or Italian 
traditions are the theatre and the picture gallery, by Semper, who will long 
be ranked as the foremost German architect of his day. 

In Berlin there is a theatre, — unique of its kind, with stage in the centre, 
and an auditorium for winter use at one end and one for summer at the 
other, — designed by Titz ; at Carlsruhe, Stuttgart, and Strasburg there are 
theatres and schools in the same style. The present Emperor has added many 
schools throughout the empire, but they are of late German Renaissance. 

The public buildings of Germany and Belgium show few designs of interest 
in recent years ; the Parliament House at Berlin, by Wallot, and the Palais de 
Justice at Brussels, by Polaert, being colossal in mass and clumsy in detail. 
Many of the private houses designed in the Italian Renaissance were very 
elegant and attractive, but within the past decade there has been a woeful 
deterioration in the character of both surface and line — the grotesque 
replacing the graceful. 

The villages built for their employees by Krupp, the gun manufacturer, 
and Stumm, the maker of steel, are notable instances of the application of 



176 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

private capital to the improvement of the domestic conditions of the laboring 
class. 

In Austria, Vienna has developed wonderfully since the days of Maria 
Theresa. The classic Parliament House by Hansen, in 1843, is one of the most 
delightful of its kind to be found anywhere ; Schmitt's Gothic town-hall is 
interesting, but cannot be said to be so successful in design; the Votive Church 
by Ferstel, in 1856 (also Gothic), the Opera House by Siccardsburg and Van 
der Niill, with the City Theatre, an elaborate Renaissance structure, by 
Semper and Hasmauer, are all worthy of note. The University with the two 
Museum buildings, facing each other upon a small park, and other public 
buildings and residences along the Ring Strasse, are extremely satisfactory, 
in spite of the fact that stucco has been so extensively employed. 

Only a few years ago the municipality of Buda-Pesth offered immunity 
from taxation for fifteen years to all prospective builders, under certain con- 
ditions as to character and cost of buildings, with the result that the newer 
portion of the Hungarian capital was quickly occupied by buildings of the 
most desirable kind ; the Parliament House, Opera, Cathedral, Technical 
School, and several club-houses and private residences, each testify to the 
spirit with which the citizens responded to this desire to beautify the city. 

Since the unification of Italy there has been considerable building in some 
of the principal cities, but very little of special importance. In Rome, the 
changes are more perceptible than elsewhere ; the excavations of the Forum, 
the embankment of the Tiber, the widening and straightening of the Corso, 
and the opening of the Via Rationale and other streets, have destroyed com- 
paratively little of the picturesque that was worth retaining, have brought to 
light many treasures of art, and, supplemented by the drainage of the Cam- 
pagna by Prince Torlonia, have certainly made it a healthier city to live in. 
The monument to Victor Emmanuel, the National Museum, and the Braccia 
Nuovo of the Vatican Museum, are among the few public structures of inter- 
est ; the many blocks of apartments and tenements are orderly and inoffen- 
sive, though brick and stucco are the materials used in their construction. 

Turin is the modern manufacturing city, while Florence preserves its me- 
diaeval air, and Venice dreams of the bygone days when the splendor of the 
Renaissance attracted the wealth, beauty, and talent of all Europe to the city 
of the Doges. 

Bologna and Genoa have each built in the suburbs a magnificent Campo 
Santo, or cemetery, with chapels, colonnades, and other accessories of archi- 
tectural value ; in Milan and Naples there are lofty glass-covered arcades 
through the centre of a block and connecting with cross streets, and the semi- 
circular colonnades of St. Francesco di Paolo, at Naples, surround a piazza 
which is the great public resort of summer evenings. 

During the reign of King George a new Athens has sprung up alongside of 
and overlapping the old city ; although the nation is not wealthy, the indi- 
vidual bequests of certain Greeks have given her the Museum, University, 
and Academy, each of strict classic design, and a hospital of Byzantine de- 
sign. Under the sunny skies of Greece those buildings certainly appear 
to much greater advantage than if in a more northern atmosphere, and their 
statuary and polychromy show the value of these accessories to such archi- 
tecture in this climate. 



PROGRESS OF THE CENTURY IN ARCHITECTURE 177 

Abdul Aziz, the predecessor of the present Sultan of Turkey, had so great 
a fondness for building that his extravagance in this respect was one of the 
causes which led to his downfall. The Dolina Bagtche palace, erected directly 
upon the shores of the Bosphorus from the designs of Balzan, an Armenian 
architect, suggests Spanish work of the sixteenth century. In Constantinople 
and at Therapia, — a summer resort at the northern end of the Bosphorus, — 



GLASS COVERED ARCADE, MILAN. 

many of the foreign governments have built official residences for their repre- 
sentatives. 

As for the architecture of our near neighbors on the north, the buildings of 
Canada have been sturdy and substantial rather than comely ; but the long 
continuance of cold weather and the lack of means have often hampered the 
builders. Since the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railroad, the pro- 
sperity of cit}^ and country seems more assured ; the older cities growing in 
importance and extent, and new towns springing up along the line to the 
West. In Ottawa the Parliament Buildings and the octagonal Library, in 

12 



178 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

Toronto, and, to some extent, in Montreal, the Universities' buildings, are 
Victorian Gothic. The later buildings of the University in Montreal, excepting 
the Girls' College, are not so interesting ; but there are two railroad stations, 
a hotel, cathedral, with several banks, insurance buildings, and residences 
that call for more than passing notice. Perhaps the finest building in all 
Canada is the Chateau Frontenac, in Quebec, — built by Bruce Price of New 
York, — on the Dufferin Terrace, overlooking the St. Lawrence River, and 
commanding a view that is hardly surpassed on the Bosphorus, the Rhine, or 
the Hudson. 

Although the history of architecture in America cannot be written without 
some reference to contemporary work in Europe, — since so much of our 
architecture in the first half of the century is adopted from that of our ances- 
tors and adapted to our uses, and in the last half so many of our architects 
have studied there and so many of our citizens have traveled there, — the pro- 
blems and their conditions in the Old World are very different from those of the 
New. Europe was already mature wheu steam and electricity were introduced; 
precedent was always to be considered, and modern requirements were often 
forced to conform to existing circumstances. There has, therefore, been 
comparatively less change there during the century than during the past 
thirty years with us. With our republican institutions, many of the monarchi- 
cal formulas soon became obsolete, though the general trend of our architec- 
ture has been in the direction of classic models. As the country has grown 
larger and more wealthy, the problems given to architects have become more 
complex; less reliance could be placed upon precedent and a premium was 
placed upon originality, which, in spite of innumerable vagaries, has brought 
American architecture, at the end of the century, to be the most notable of 
the day. 

• At the end of the eighteenth century, this republic consisted of hardly more 
than a number of communities extending at intervals along the Atlantic sea- 
board, with an occasional settlement beyond the Alleghany Mountains and 
across the Ohio River. Their resources were extremely limited, their wants 
very few, and their intercommunication irregular ; but their methods of living 
were simple and frugal, and their courage and endurance phenomenal. 

Among the settlers of New England were many mechanics and manufac- 
turers, and these soon began to replace the primitive log cabins with frame 
dwellings ; those of the Southern States were chiefly planters, who imported 
much of their labor, and often the bricks as well as the glass, hardware, tiles, 
and other materials for their houses. Many of those who colonized the M id- 
die States had come from countries in Europe where these materials were 
made, and brought their secrets with them, while others were farmers and 
stock growers, whose snug little cottages and enormous barns may be seen to 
this day in New York and Pennsylvania. 

At the beginning of the nineteenth century we possessed a national style of 
architecture, which, although it had come to its from Italy, through France 
and England, was yet distinctly American. It was. however, almost exclu- 
sively confined to residences, and there were very few public buildings of any 
description, except certain churches. — said to have been designed by followers 
of Sir Christopher Wren, some of whom were doubtless ship carpenters who 
had studied the works of Sir William Chambers. 



180 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 

The Colonial style, as we now term it, was sufficiently elastic in its adapta- 
bility to conform to the requirements of the merchant, manufacturer, or mari- 
ner living at Salem, Boston, or Newport, as well as to those of the planter 
living at Charleston or Savannah. There were certain differences, more or 
less pronounced, peculiar to each section and to each city, but all houses were 
alike in this respect, — there was no gas or water, and the open fireplace was 
depended upon for heat. 

In New England the dwelling-houses were placed near the ground ; the 
chimneys built in an interior cross wall, the kitchen, with its accessories, as 
near to the dining-room as possible ; the ceilings were low, with cornices 
sometimes of plaster, sometimes of wood. The roof, — which was often hipped 
and often of the gambrel shape, but rarely a gable of even slope, — was always 
covered with shingles, which covering was occasionally used also on the 
exterior walls. 

In the South, some of the characteristics were the high basement, broad 
piazzas, frequently at the level of the second as well as the first story, and 
placed on the south and west sides ; the chimney on outside walls ; the kitchen 
in a separate building, detached from the dwelling ; a broad hall through the 
centre, giving access to large rooms with high ceilings ; the roof quite as fre- 
quently hipped as gabled, and often — in either case — a huge fanlight set in 
a low gable on the front for ventilation of the attic ; dormers were seldom used, 
as the attic was not inhabited ; the gambrel roof was uncommon ; slate, and 
occasionally tile or shingle, was used for roof covering. 

Our first public buildings of any importance, and which show the influence 
of contemporary work in England, were the White House, designed by Hoban 
in 1792 ; the Capitol, begun by Dr. Thornton in 1793 and completed by B. H. 
Latrobe in 1830 ; the wings, containing the present Senate and House of 
Kepresentatives, were added later ; the dome, designed by Thomas U. Walter, 
was begun in 1858, but not completed until 1873. 

Our early Presidents took much interest in architecture, Washington direct- 
ing and criticising the planning of the Capitol and building his own home at 
Mount Vernon, and Jefferson designing the dome and colonnades of the Uni- 
versity of Virginia, at Charlottesville, and his own home at Monticello. 

Massachusetts was the first State to erect its capitol, — the State House in 
Boston, by Bulfinch, dating from 1795. 

The City Hall of New York was our first work of unmistakable French 
character, and shows the influence of the time of Louis XVI. It was de- 
signed by Mangin, a Frenchman, begun in 1803, and completed in 1812. 

After the war of 1812, many state and national buildings were erected ; 
from that time colonnades and domes seem indispensable to the proper 
dignity of the capitol or court house. The use of both brick and stone 
became more general, and, for private houses, the form of the gambrel roof 
gradually disappeared in favor of the hip and gable. Subsequent to 1830, the 
accepted type of the larger or more pretentious house was the Italian villa, 
with a square tower accentuating the front entrance, often one story higher 
than the main building ; all roofs of low pitch, covered with tin ; the exterior 
walls faced with stucco. About this time bay windows and sliding doors for 
principal rooms of first story, and better facilities for the use of heat, light, 
and water were introduced and the symmetrical disposition of parts often 
neglected. 



PROGRESS OF THE CENTURY IN ARCHITECTURE 



181 



The very steep pointed. Gothic roof denoted the modest cottage, and the 
perforated wooden tracery of windows and porches, or the barge-boards of 
gables, became the simple beginning of that riotous growth of jig-sawed 
fretwork afterwards so prominent upon those houses constructed with Man- 
sard or French roofs of rectilinear, concave, or convex form. The works and 
writings of Downing had much influence at this time, and it was shown not 
only in these Italian villas or Gothic cottages, but also in landscape garden- 
ing about suburban residences. 

The political disturbances in various countries of Europe in 1848 brought 
very many immigrants to our shores, and the discovery of gold in California, 
in 1849, was the beginning of that steady flow of settlers which has since 
then peopled so many of our Western States and Territories. 



"«!%* 


ik^a^Hl^WBHlflP 


■ 




LIBRARY BUILDING, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA. 

(Thos. Jefferson, Designer.) 

Then followed our own Civil War, from 1861 to 1865, and subsequent to 
that the period of reconstruction, during which time there was some building, 
but very little architecture, throughout the country. 

In 1869 the Pacific Railroad was completed, and this not only gave a new 
impetus to Western mining and farming, but created a new market for East- 
ern manufactures. 

So great was this manufacturing and commercial activity that vast fortunes 
were made, and there were many opportunities calling for the services of 
architects; but as they had hitherto been rarely employed, except in a few of 
the larger cities, upon churches or public buildings, a great proportion of them 
were untrained amateurs or self-taught carpenters and masons. However, 
the first school of architecture had just been organized at the Massachusetts 
Institute of Technology, in Boston, and to William R. Ware, — who was its 
professor of architecture from 1866, and who organized a similar school at 
Columbia College, New York, in 1880, — the profession and the public owe more 
than to any other one man for well-directed efforts towards the development 



182 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

of such qualifications as may eventually give a national character to our archi- 
tecture,. These schools came none too soon, and within the past twenty-five 
years many others have been founded and many traveling scholarships en- 
dowed ; collections of books, photographs, and casts have been provided in 
various cities; architectural periodicals published, and architectural societies 
and sketch clubs formed, each of which has contributed to the higher educa- 
tion of the profession and to the greatei appreciation by the public. 

Prior to this time, each section and each city had certain peculiarities of 
architecture, as of speech, which were unmistakable. The white New England 
meeting-house, the red school-house, the country house with its kitchen, wash- 
room, and wood-shed trailing in the rear, or the swell-front city house, were 
as characteristic as the endless blocks of brown stone, high stoop houses of 
New York, or the monotonous rows of red brick dwellings with white marble 
trimmings of Philadelphia, or the broad verandas and halls of the Southern 
home. 

Cast-iron was the recognized material for the front of business buildings, 
the designs being chiefly in the Corinthian or composite orders, and the arch 
or lintel used indiscriminately ; and when the dry goods store of A. T. Stewart 
& Co. was built, in 1872, to occupy the whole block from Broadway to Fourth 
Avenue, and from Ninth to Tenth Streets, it was the largest and most impor- 
tant of its kind; Before this class of commercial architecture disappeared, a 
front was designed by R. M. Hunt, about 1878, for a store on Broadway, near 
Broome Street, where the plastic forms of the tile and stucco of Saracenic 
architecture were used as being more logical for this material than an imita- 
tion of Roman forms in stone. 

There were not many summer resorts, and a few weeks at Saratoga, New- 
port, or the Virginia Springs was the limit of the annual vacation ; the ortho- 
dox hotel was a rectangular frame building, with veranda on one or more 
sides, covered by a flat roof supported by square piers having the height of 
several stories ; the length, width, and height of the building were governed 
by no other proportion than that of the number of guests. 

In the South and West there were virtually no hotels, and the belated tra- 
veler applied for food and shelter for himself and his horse to the nearest 
friendly farm. 

These were the prevailing conditions when the nouveau riche appeared upon 
the scene ; to him as citizen prosperity meant a better home, to the congre- 
gation a larger church, to the community a new city hall or court house, to 
the State a more expensive capitol. 

"While these buildings were being everywhere erected, in accordance with 
the time honored fashions of construction and with elaborate finish, the disas- 
trous conflagrations of 1S71 in Chicago, and of 1872 in Boston, called general 
attention to the necessity for more permanent building ; and the precautions 
now taken against similar occurrences were the beginning of efforts toward 
methods of fireproof construction. Granite, marble, and limestone were dis- 
carded in .favor of sandstone, brick, and terra cotta ; iron beams carrying 
brick or concrete (subsequently hollow terra cotta) arches were introduced, 
and metal laths were substituted for the wooden strips to a certain degree; 
but as these fires were mainly in the business districts, such reforms have 
been confined almost exclusively to commercial architecture. 




T1UNITY CHURCH, NEW YOKK. 



184 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

In 1873 the financial panic gave a check to many building operations, but 
it was of comparatively short duration, for in 1876 all the other nations of the 
earth were invited to unite with us at Philadelphia in celebrating the centen- 
nial anniversary of our independence. 

This was our first international Exposition, and it was not remarkable that 
in our eagerness to learn, and in the enthusiasm of prosperity, we sought 
inspiration from all those peoples who had brought their goods for our 
inspection. At once we began to build Queen Anne cottages or to remodel 
existing houses with many bays and towers, rooms set at all angles, floors at 
different levels, walls of many materials, and roofs of varying slopes, as well 
as to apply many tints and shades of color within and without. 

The summer hotel and summer cottage began to appear at the seashore, 
in the mountains, and along the shores of the great lakes, and the winter 
resorts of the Carolinas, Florida, and California to attract the seekers for 
health and pleasure. 

The interior decoration of our houses was the chief lesson of 1876, and 
having once seen the European and Oriental hangings, draperies, rugs, and 
bric-a-brac, we set about furnishing our rooms with them. 

Hitherto American architecture had been most influenced by English 
precedent, and the Victorian Gothic had able advocates, especially in 
Boston, where the Art Museum by Sturgis & Brigham, as well as many 
stores, residences, and churches by Cu minings & Sears, Peabody & Stearns, 
and others, 4 showed much vigor and originality. William A. Potter, as 
supervising architect for the Government, adopted this style, in 1875, for 
his buildings at Pall River, Mass., Nashville, Tenn., and Covington, Ky., and 
R. M. Upjohn designed for Hartford, Conn., the only Gothic State Capitol 
in this country. 

R. M. Upjohn and Henry M. Congdon of New York had already done 
much Gothic ecclesiastical work and, with the possible exception of Grace 
Church in 1840, and St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Cathedral in 1886 by 
Renwick, there is no example of this style which shows such appreciation 
of proportion or of form, in mass and in detail, as Trinity Church (1843) 
by the first-named architect. 

It was perhaps rather fortunate that just as the Queen Anne fashion, with 
its multiplicity of detail, was brought to us from England, H. H. Richard- 
son, of Boston, called our attention to the bigness and (almost brutal) sim- 
plicity of the Romanesque from Southern France. From the date of the 
building of Trinity Church, in Boston (1876), may be reckoned the parting 
of the ways. Heretofore everything we had done of any importance had 
an English stamp upon it ; henceforth the work that was done showed the 
result of training of the Parisian atelier or of the well-filled sketch books of 
Continental travel. 

Not only in this church, but in his libraries at Woburn, North Easton, 
Quincy, Milford, Burlington, and New Orleans, did Richardson show his grasp 
of the subject. Trinity is unmistakably a Christian temple, and its bigness 
most conducive to the sense of awe and reverence. His libraries leave no 
doubt as to their having been built for the storing and reading of books ; 
his stone buildings, whether the Court House and jail in Pittsburg, the 
Chamber of Commerce in Cincinnati, or private houses in Buffalo or Chicago, 



PROGRESS OF THE CENTURY IN ARCHITECTURE 



185 



show their purpose and emphasize their material; his brick buildings, 
whether a college building at Cambridge, railway station at New London, 
or residence at Washington, tell their story in brick ; and his country houses 
about the suburbs of Boston, to be what they are, could not have been other 
than of wood. 

His influence upon the architecture of the day was therefore not surprising, 
but there was a subtleness in the character of his designs that his imitators 
could never acquire and even his immediate successors could not long retain 
after his personality was lost to them ; and from the lack partly, perhaps, of 
true sympathy, partly from the modification of conditions, his art may be 
said to have died with him. 




ST. GEORGE S HALL, PHILADELPHIA. 



As E. M. Hunt had the last word on the cast-iron front, so he had the 
first on the modern sky-scraper, a peculiarly American production; the walls 
of the Tribune Building, however, carry both their own weight and that of 
the floors, being built before the days of the methods of steel skeleton con- 
struction. Hunt was trained in Paris, as was Richardson, and had assisted 
in the design of the Pavilion de Flore under Lefuel, and he showed his 
appreciation of the Neo-Grec movement in his design for the Lenox Library. 
It is somewhat unusual for an artist to do his best work in his latest years, 
but surely no better work of its kind has been done in modern times than 
the residences which he designed for three members of the Vanderbilt family 
at Newport, in New York city, and at Biltmore, N. C. The design which he 



186 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

left for the Fifth Avenue front of the Metropolitan Museum, now being- 
carried out by his son, is a magnificent Corinthian order, whereas much of 
his other work is late French Gothic. 

That he was called upon to design the base for Bartholdi's Liberty in New 
York Harbor, and the Administration Building at the International Exposi- 
tion of 1893, and that a portrait bust has been erected to his memory, all 
testify to the appreciation in which he was held by the profession. 

To McKim, Mead & White, of New York, we are greatly indebted for 
their influence upon secular architecture, and their Casino at Newport, built 
in 1880, was probably more far-reaching in its effect upon country houses than 
any other building at that time. Among the other work from their office 
may be mentioned the Boston Public Library, the Madison Square Garden 
(reproducing in its tower the Giralda of Seville), the Library and other 
buildings for Columbia College, the Metropolitan and University Clubs, the 
Agricultural Building (of staff) in Chicago in 1893, now being reproduced 
in marble for the Brooklyn Institute, the Tiffany, the Villard, and other city 
houses, and a host of country houses at Newport, Lenox, and elsewhere. 

There is another architect whose talents should be acknowledged ; for 
about 1880, when the shingle house had just begun to take shape, there was 
none more clever at that sort of thing than W. R. Emerson, of Boston, and 
his resources seemed endless in harmonizing form and color with condi- 
tions of seashore or mountain, as shown in his houses at Bar Harbor, 
Milton, Newport, and many other summer resorts. 

Philadelphia, which had hitherto always been extremely conservative in 
architecture, soon began to erect some of the most singular and fantastic 
structures that could well be imagined ; but fortunately the refined simpli- 
city and fertile originality of such men as Wilson Eyre, Frank Miles Day & 
Bro., and Cope & Stewardson have prevailed, and in both city and suburban 
work they and certain others have done and are doing much to coimterbalance 
the character of the eccentricities of their predecessors, as shown in buildings 
for the University of Pennsylvania and the Academy of Arts and Sciences. 

But the restless activity of Eastern loom and machine shop, and of Western 
farm and mine, seemed to meet and concentrate in Chicago — the entrepot for 
the raw material of the West and the finished product of the East. The 
unprecedented increase in value of land, the low price of iron and steel, with 
the introduction of high-speed elevators, combined to develop a new type of 
sky-scraper ; and as the nature of the soil was entirely unlike that of other 
cities, the foundations of these buildings presented problems which were 
solved by Chicago architects in various ways hitherto untried. The Rookery 
by Burnham & Root, Pullman Building by S. S. Beman, and the Auditorium 
(opera house, hotel, and office building in one) by Adler & Sullivan, at the 
time of their completion were most notable examples of architectural engi- 
neering, and were soon followed by many others more or less similar, designed 
by W. L. B. Jenny, Holabird & Roche, Henry Ives Cobb, and others. The 
buildings for the Chicago University, the Athletic Club, and Newbury 
Library, by the last-named architect, show a high degree of ability ; the 
peculiarly rich arabesque ornamentation designed by Louis H. Sullivan, and 
the direct and rational handling of the buildings upon which it was used, are 
certainly indicative of the spirit of enthusiasm and conscientiousness of a 



PROGRESS OF THE CENTURY IN ARCHITECTURE 



187 



well-trained mind. It is by such characteristics that John W. Root was able 
to accomplish so much for the advancement of architecture in the West. 

What Krnpp and Stumm had done for the employees in their works in 
Germany, Pullman determined to do for his men and their families here ; 
and a town, with dwellings, schools, churches, water-works, etc., for many 
thousand inhabitants was designed and built by S. S. Beman, which has been 
reported by experts to be the best of its kind. 

In Chicago, in 1893, was held our second international Exposition ; and that 
the exhibits should be suitably housed, some of the most prominent architects 
of the country were called together, buildings were assigned to each of them, 
and Frederick Law Olmsted was appointed to lay out the grounds, waterways, 
and bridges. 




TRINITY CHURCH, BOSTON. 



Except for the difference in material, never did Rome in the days of 
Augustan magnificence show buildings similar to those grouped about the 
Court of Honor. A Greek would surely have been proud to walk through 
the Peristyle, or to have visited the Art Galleries, and a Roman to have 
sauntered about the Terminal Station or the triumphal arches of the Manu- 
factures Building. Right nobly was the Spanish aid to Columbus acknow- 
ledged in the design of Machinery Hall ; but to France, whose generosity 
had trained so many of our architects, sculptors, and painters to do such 
things, was the greatest triumph in the unanimity with which they had all 
worked and the success which crowned their labors. 

The building occupied by the Federal Government was one of the few 
unworthy of its location or of the occasion. While the architecture of the 
people had been advancing steadily for fifty years, that provided by the Trea- 



188 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 



sury Department in Washington had been quite as steadily retrograding. The 
Custom House, Boston ; Sub-Treasury, New York ; the Mint, in Philadelphia ; 
the Treasury, Post Office, and Interior Department buildings, in Washington, 
have stood almost alone since the middle of the century. The few Gothic 
buildings referred to previously were honest and intelligent attempts to im- 
prove the quality of design for the government, but the politicians decided that 
artistic ability was not a prerequisite for the office of Supervising Architect. 
Since 1895, there has been some infusion of new life into the designing- 
room, and such work as the designs 
by William Martin Aiken, for the 
Buffalo and San Francisco Post Of- 
fices and Court Houses, the Denver 
and the Philadelphia Mints, and the 
New London Post Office, were about 
being materialized, when once again 
the politicians, who cared not a whit 
for one design more than another, 
interfered to oblige the government 
contractor. But the good seed had 
been planted, and the work of the 
present incumbent, James Knox 
Taylor, is likely to show a marked 
advance over that of many previous 
years. 

The general scheme of the Con- 
gressional Library was conceived by 
Smithmeyer & Pelz, the details car- 
ried out subsequently 
by General Casey and 
his able assistants 
and successors, and 
the building opened 
to the public in 1896. 
The experiment of 
the collaboration of 
sculptor and painter 
with the architect 
had resulted so fa- 
vorably in Chicago, 
that the artists in- 
vited to decorate this 
building gladly re- 
sponded; and al- 
though the remuner- 
ation was inconsid- 
erable, their loyalty 
to the country, as 
to Art, resulted in 

THE AMERICAN SURETY COMPANY'S BUILDING, NEW YORK. SUCtl mural deCOra- 




i^s 



H^S ffiAE Jai 




PROGRESS OF THE CENTURY IN ARCHITECTURE 189 

tion as had not been seen since W. M. Hunt decorated the Senate Chamber 
in Albany, or La Farge did the figures in Trinity Church, Boston, and St. 
Thomas Church, New York. Blashfield's dome, typifying all the nations of 
the earth ; Vedder's Minerva, in mosaic ; H. O. Walker's large lunettes, illus- 
trating English poems, and Simmons' small lunettes, filled with exquisite 
little figures, are but a few of the many interesting works in color. Two of 
the main entrance doors of bronze were modeled by Olin L. Warner, but he 
did not live to complete them. The marble stairway is by Martini, and the 
statues which adorn the main reading-room are by Adams, Bartlett, Partridge, 
Ward, and others. 

The plan of the building is that of a central octagon containing the general 
reading-room, connected by wings containing the book-stacks with a surround- 
ing hollow square containing rooms for special collections. There are ample 
reading-rooms for representatives, senators, and the public, and a tunnel by 
which books are sent to the Capitol. This is the last building of considerable 
importance constructed by the government, and it was built on time and 
within the appropriation of $6,000,000 ; it may be said to be dignified and 
suitable to its purpose, and to be representative of the people at the close of 
the century. 

It now seems probable that New York will build the handsome library 
designed by Carrere & Hastings ; the Egyptian lines of the reservoir occupy- 
ing the site — emphasized by the varying hues of the ivy for so many seasons 

— will give place to those of an example of modern French Renaissance. 
Among the changes incidental to the growth of this city is the recent dis- 
appearance of the old Tombs prison, which was another building of Egyptian 
architecture, good of its kind, and quite dignified and impressive. 

There are certain other buildings designed in the style of a country almost 
as tropical as Egypt, and as light and airy as that is sombre and gloomy, but 
which seem quite as appropriate for their different purposes : they are the 
Casino Theatre and the Synagogue at Fifth Avenue and Forty-third Street, 

— each an excellent example of Saracenic architecture, — the former of brick 
and terra cotta, and the latter of vari-colored sandstones. Another syna- 
gogue, by Brunner & Tryon, further up the avenue and facing Central Park, 
has a decided Byzantine flavor, — the large arch accentuating the entrance, 
carrying a small arcade, and being surmounted by the traceried dome. 

The largest and most expensively elaborate hotel in America is the 
Waldorf-Astoria ; and although certain features of the exterior may not be 
justified by interior arrangements, it has certainly been planned with a view 
to great comfort and luxury. 

While New York has the largest and most expensive private residences, — 
the chief of these is that of Cornelius Vanderbilt, — Philadelphia has the 
greatest number of small houses owned by their occupants ; and of late years, 
there are a greater number of attractive homes in St. Louis than anywhere 
else in this country. Very many of them have been designed by Eames & 
Young, or by Shepley, Butan & Cool idge ; and with much open space about 
them, they have an air of elegance and hospitality that is lacking to the 
homes in most other cities. 

New York, from its position as the commercial and financial centre of the 
country, in spite of its situation on a long, narrow island, may be accepted as 



190 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX TB CENTURY 

the typical city. What is done here architecturally is done (only to a differ- 
ent degree) elsewhere, and its growth horizontally in the northern portion of 
the city has kept pace with its perpendicular growth in the more congested 
business portion. This general expansion has altogether changed the charac- 
ter of many streets, the residences becoming apartment houses, and the shops 

becoming office buildings from ten to twenty stories, — or even more, the 

masses becoming larger and the detail proportionately less prominent. 

The sky-line has entirely changed ; the spire of Trinity is lost in such sur- 
roundings as the Bowling Green, Empire, Washington Life, and American 
Surety buildings, and in the vicinity where the Tribune tower was once con- 
spicuous, now the St. Paul Building rises twenty-five stories, and the Ives 
Syndicate Building even higher; further and further up Broadway, and to 
. the right and left of it, these monster buildings continue to rise. But among 
them all there is not one which shows a more masterly handling of the pro- 
blem than the Surety, where the architect, Bruce Price, has emphasized the 
■entrance with a colonnade and six figures of much dignity and grace, and has 
concentrated the ornament about the upper part of the building, crowning it 
with a fine cornice, which is more effective from the simplicity of the four 
walls beneath. This building holds its own among such others as the Wash- 
ington Life and St. James buildings, New York, or the Ames Building, Bos- 
ton, Harrison Building, Philadelphia, Schiller Theatre, Chicago, Wainwright 
Building, St. Louis, or Examiner Building, San Francisco. 

It is impossible, in so brief a survey of the field, to enumerate more than a 
very small fraction of the buildings illustrating the progress of the architec- 
ture of the century ; and aside from the residences, apartments, and hotels 
where we live winter or summer, and commercial buildings in which our 
working hours may be occupied, there are very many examples of churches, 
schools, colleges, libraries, and museums, donated, equipped, and endowed for 
our instruction, theatres and music halls for our entertainment, railroad sta- 
tions for transportation, storage warehouses for the safety of valuables, and 
armories for the use of our militia. 

Besides these, there are engineering works of considerable importance, such 
as the Eads Bridge, at St. Louis, or the Koebling Bridge, between New York 
and Brooklyn, and the works of the sculptor St. Gaudens, the Washington 
Arch by Stanford White, the Parragut and Lincoln statues in New York 
and in Chicago, which should surely be mentioned, since monumental works 
are the poetry, whereas the secular and commercial works are but the prose 
of architecture. 

As we review our productions, we should certainly feel encouraged to be- 
lieve that if we continue to meet and solve each problem in the same direct, 
honest way that we have been doing for the last quarter of the century, there 
need be no misgivings as to the future of architecture in these United States. 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN CHEMISTRY 

By HARVEY W. WILEY, M.D., PH.D., LL.D., 

Chief Chemist Agricultural Department, Washington, D. C. 

The science of chemistry, as it is known to-day, had its real origin 
towards the end of the eighteenth century. Before and up to that time it is 
true there were many great workers in chemistry, whose names are associ- 
ated with investigations in chemical science, such as Boyle, Stahl, Black, and 
Scheele. Contemporary with the close of the eighteenth century and the 
beginning of the nineteenth must also be mentioned particularly the names 
of Priestly (1733-1804), Cavendish and Humphry Davy (1778-1829). All 
these workers had to contend, first of all, with erroneous theories, which 
made it difficult to rightly interpret the data of experiment. The old 
theory of phlogiston produced an environment in which it was difficult for 
true scientific methods to survive. The great investigator, who did more 
than any other one man to overturn this false theory and place chemistry 
on a firm foundation, was Lavoisier (1743-1794). Born near the middle of 
the eighteenth century, his scientific activity began about 1770, and before 
he was twenty-five he was made a member of the French Academy of 
Sciences. At the age of forty he was recognized as the foremost scientist 
of his age. 

Priestly discovered oxygen in 1774, but failed to recognize its true rela- 
tions to other bodies. It was Lavoisier who discovered oxidation (1776), an 
achievement which meant more to chemistry than the discovery of oxygen. 

The observation that metals when heated in confined air increased in weight 
while the volume of the confined air decreased, is the crucial experiment 
upon which the whole science of chemistry rests. This experiment was 
made most rigorously by Lavoisier, and the apparatus which he used is still 
preserved in the Museum of L'Ecole des Arts et Metiers in Paris. This 
apparatus, simple in character and yet almost perfect in construction, has for 
the chemist a peculiar significance and sacredness, producing an impression 
similar to that inspired in the devout Christian by the relics of the Cross 
and the Holy Sepulchre. 

In the brief space which is assigned for a discussion of the progress of 
chemistry during the nineteenth century, economy of words will be secured 
by briefly tracing some of the salient points in the progress of some of the 
more important branches of chemical science. In the following pages, 
therefore, will be found a brief statement of what has been accomplished, of 
the most important character, in the science of chemistr}^ under the follow- 
ing heads : — 

Inorganic chemistry; physical chemistry; organic chemistry; analytical 
chemistry ; synthetical chemistry ; metallurgical chemistry ; agricultural 
chemistry; graphic chemistiy ; didactic chemistry; chemistry of fermen- 
tation ; and lastly electro-chemistry. 

No attempt will be made in this paper to enter upon the discussion of the 



192 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

progress which has been made in medical, pharmaceutical, and physiological 
chemistry. The discussion outlined under the above heads does not by 
any means embrace the whole subject. It will be sufficient to indicate only 
the lines of progress along which the greatest advances have been made. 

I. INORGANIC AND PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY. 

The three propositions established by Lavoisier, which serve as the foun- 
dation for inorganic and physical 
chemistry, are the following : — 

1. Bodies burn only in contact with 
pure air. 

2. The air is consumed in the com- 
bustion, and the increase in weight of 
the burnt body is equal to the de- 
crease in weight of the air. 

3. In combustion the body is gen- 
erally changed, by its combination 
with the pure air, into an acid, and 
metals are changed into metal calx. 

The total number of elementary 
bodies known at the beginning of the 
century was probably less than thirty. 
Many had been recognized as such 
since remote antiquity, but none of 
the non-metallic elements, except oxy- 
gen and sulphur, was known, and even 
their properties were not established 
w c/f*- £~~ fti^ v*6^ with any degree of precision. 
I ^ ^°^ on ty did Lavoisier establish 

jfC )9<k^ftc* &£ the fundamental principles of mod- 
v ern chemistry, but in connection with 

Fourcroy (1755-1809), Berthollet 
(1748-1822), and Guyton de Morveau (1737-1816), laid the foundation of 
modern chemical nomenclature. 

The contributions to chemical knowledge at this time were greatly 
increased by the works of the Swedish chemist, Scheele (1742-1786), and 
in the beginning years of the century the great work which was accomplished 
by Sir Humphry Davy advanced very rapidly the general knowledge of 
chemical science. 

Davy's first works served to elucidate the connection between electricity 
and chemical processes, and it was through the classical experiment with 
an electric current that he isolated (1807) the metals sodium and potassium, 
and described their properties. 

This achievement of Sir Humphry Davy's was the second great step in 
the progress of chemistry, after the one taken by Lavoisier. By means of 
the metals sodium and potassium other metallic elements were separated, 
notably aluminium by Wohler (1845). Basing his work upon the above 
experiment, Sainte Claire Deville developed the metallurgy of aluminium 
(1854), and Bussy isolated magnesium (1830). 





THE CENTURTS PROGRESS IN CHEMISTRY 193 

In 1811 iodine was discovered by Courtois, and its properties examined 
simultaneously (1814) by Davy and Gay-Lussac. 

The contributions made by Berzelius (1779-1848), who was a contempo- 
rary of Davy and Gay-Lussac (1778-1850), were of the most important char- 
acter. Berzelius not only added to the knowledge of inorganic chemistry 
but also established many of the important theories on which chemical 
action depends. His elaboration of the employment of the blowpipe in 
chemical analysis was of the greatest practical value. 

In 1807 Dalton published a work entitled " New System of Chemical 
Philosophy," in which was announced for the first time the law of the 
definite proportions of bodies forming a definite union. The atomic theory 
of matter was also developed by Dalton, who gave it a definite form and 
expression. Chemists now began to consider the elements as definite inde- 
structible particles of matter, forming unions among themselves and with 
different kinds of atoms to form molecules, which were considered as the 
units of substances. As a result of this supposition, the development of the 
principle of the relative weight with which bodies combine was the logical 
consequence. 

Now for the first time the elements began to assume not only names and 
descriptions of properties but also numbers, showing the relative weight of 
their atoms or final conditions of existence. It was only necessary, there- 
fore, to assume the standard of comparison for any one element, in order to 
determine the relative weights with which it combined with others. Thus 
the system of atomic weights was developed. 

As a result of the law of chemical action, that most elementary bodies 
exist in a condition where two atoms are joined together to form a molecule, 
it follows, that in most instances the molecular weights of the elements are 
double their atomic weight. There are, however, many notable exceptions 
to this rule. 

The supposition of the existence of atoms was followed soon by another 
theoretical proposition, advanced by Prout (1815). Assuming that the 
atomic weight of hydrogen was one, Prout's hypothesis asserted that the 
atomic weights of all other elementary bodies were multiples of that of 
hydrogen. The most rigid investigations of recent years have shown that 
Prout's hypothesis is untenable ; but the remarkable fact still remains, that 
in a great many cases the atomic weights of the elements are almost whole 
numbers, or differ from whole numbers by almost a half unit. 

The determination of the atomic weights of the various elements during 
the past one hundred years has been worked on by hundreds of chemists 
whose names it would be impracticable to mention. The most important of 
them are Berzelius, Cooke, Cleve, Delafontaine, Dumas, Hermann, Marchand, 
Marignac (1817), Morley, Noyes, Pelouse (1807-1867), Richards, Schneider, 
Stas (1813-1891), and Thompson. Of all these workers Stas, a Belgian 
chemist, is perhaps the most renowned. Among those mentioned, Cooke, 
Morley, Noyes, Delafontaine, and Richards are citizens of the United 
States. 

From the less than thirty elements which were known at the beginning o\ 
the century, there are known to-day seventy-two with certainty, and perhaps 
one or two more whose identity has not j^et been fully established. The 
13 



194 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 



chemists who have become most renowned by the discovery of elementary 
bodies are : Cavendish, Scheele, Berzelius, Wohler (1800-1882), Davy, G-ay- 
Lussac, Priestly, Bunsen (b. 1811), Crookes (b. 1832), and Ramsay. 

The following elements, twenty-eight in number, were known before 1800 : 



ELEMENTS KNOWN BEFORE 1800. 



Copper Known to Ancients. 

Gold " " " 

Iron " 

Lead " " " 

Silver " " " 

Tin " 

Carbon " " " 

(But three forms not identified until 1786- 
1800.) 

Mercury Known to Ancients. 

Antimony Fifteenth Century. 

Bismuth " " 

Zinc " " 

Phosphorus 1669 

Arsenic (Isolated) 1697 

" (Studied; 1733 



ELEMENTS KNOWN BEFORE 1800. 



14. Cobalt 1733 

15. Platinum 1735-1748 

10. Nickel 1751 

17. Hydrogen 1766 

18. Nitrogen 1772 

19. Oxygen 1774 

20. Manganese (Studied in compounds, 

isolated at unknown date) 1774 

21. Barium 1774 

22. Tungsten 1781-1785 

23. Molybdenum 1782 

24. Tellurium 1782-1798 

25. Strontium 1790 

26. Yttrium 1794 

27. Chromium 1797 

28. Beryllium 1798 



Four additional elements were known to exist before that date, but they had 
not been isolated and identified. These are : — 



ELEMENTS KNOWN BUT NOT ISOLATED OR EXAMINED BEFORE 1800. 



,-,. , . ( Compound known 

Chlorine { T , f , , ... 

Isolated and studu 



Titanium . 



Uranium. 



Zirconium 



1774 

d 1810 

( Known in compounds 1 79 1 

I Isolated 1824 

J Known in compounds 1789 

/ Isolated 1824 

j Known in compounds 1789 

I Isolated 1824 



The following elements, forty-nine in number, have been discovered since 
1800 : — 



ELEMENTS DISCOVERED SINCE 1800. 



1. Niobium 1801 

2. Vanadium 1801 

3. Tantalum. Studied about 1802-1803 

(Not yet isolated.) 

4. Cerium 1803 

5. Iridium 1803 

6. Osmium 1803 

7. Palladium 1803 

8. Rhodium 1803 

9. Potassium 1807 



ELEMENTS DISCOVERED SINCE 1800. 



10. Sodium 1807 

11. Calcium 1808 

12. Boron 1808 

13. Silicon 1810 

14. Iodine 1812 

15. Cadmium 1817 

16. Lithium 1817 

17. Selenium 1817 

18. Bromine 1826 

19 Aluminium 1827 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN CHEMISTRY 



195 



ELEMENTS DISCOVERED 


SINCE 1800. 


ELEMENTS DISCOVERED SINCE 1800. 


20. Thorium 








1828 


1828 
-1845 
1830 
1839 
1839 

1843 
1843 
1843 
1860 
1860 
1861 
1863 
1875 

1878 
1878 


36. 

37. 
38. 

39. 

40. 
41. 
42. 
43. 
44. 
45. 
46. 
47. 
48. 
49. 
50. 
51. 


been isolated, and el 
is disputed.) 
Scandium. Known s 
(Not yet isolated.) 


ementary 


nature 


1879 


24. Terbium. Studied al 


>out 














1885 


(Not yet isolated.) 








Samarium. (A name 
found in Cadolinite 
ture very doubtful.) 

Holmium. (Not yet 

Helium 


given to a metal 
Elementary na- 

isolated.) 




























28. Rubidium 










1895 












1896 


30. Thallium 










Metargon 

Krvptou 








1898 












1898 


32. Gallium 


















1898 


33. Decipium. (Name give 


n in 
and 


1878 to 
Deeipi 


mix- 
um.) 


Polonium 








1898 


Coronium 








1898 












1898 


34. Ytterbium . . . 










1898 


35. Thulium. (Name giver 
to a metal in Gadolin 


by('leveinl879 
ite. Has not yet 


Ethenon (?) 








1898 


Radium (?) 








1885 
1898 















The date in each case is that of the discovery. Numbers 49, 50, and 51 are 
not yet sufficiently well known to justify being considered elements, and are 
therefore properly followed by an interrogation point. 



II. PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY. 

In strictly physical chemistry the relations of electricity and heat to 
chemical action have been extensively developed during the century. The 
specific heats of the elements and of most of their compounds have been 
carefully determined, and thermo and physical chemistry under the leader- 
ship of such master minds as Berthollet, Thompson, Van't Hoff, and Ostwald 
have been brought to the highest degree of perfection. 

The chemist now does not consider that he knows any body until he knows 
thoroughly its relations to heat and to electricity. The action of light must 
also be included, but this subject will be more thoroughly discussed under 
graphic chemistry. 

The nature of solutions has also been developed by the studies of Ost- 
wald and Van't Hoff, and as a result of these studies, a flood of light has 
been thrown upon the constitution of compound bodies. 

In the development of physical chemistry, attention should be directed 
to the help afforded by Newlands (1864) and Mendelejeff (1869) and others, 
showing that the elements form groups which tend to recur with a periodi- 
city which is sufficiently definite to enable the investigator to foretell to 
some extent the properties of the elements which have never yet been dis- 
covered, and whose existence is necessary in order to fill up the gaps in exist- 
ing groups. 

By this method the existence, atomic weight and properties of scandium, 
gallium, and germanium were foretold years before their discovery. Such 
actual realization of a scientific-prophetic method is one of the strongest 



196 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

indications of the basis of fact upon which it rests. Although a rigid appli- 
cation of the principles of the periodic law is not possible, yet its discovery 
and elaboration mark one of the great forward steps of chemical philosophy. 

If we regard any material system by itself, i.e., independently of any 
other system or influence by which it may be surrounded, we recognize it 
as consisting of essentially two things, — matter and energy. A precise 
definition of either matter or energy is difficult, if not impossible ; but 
what is connoted by these names is sufficiently well understood by their 
well-known properties. Both energy and matter are essential to each and 
every system. They are coexistent. In the light of human experience, we 
cannot conceive of one existing without the other ; and in the study of any 
material system, consideration of one of these components without the other 
can only be regarded as incomplete. But, for the sake of convenience, this 
has been the practice, and, generally speaking, chemists have concerned them- 
selves with matter changes of equilibria, while physicists have more espe- 
cially directed their attention to energy equilibria. The object of the physical 
chemist is to follow equilibria changes in given systems, having due regard 
for both the matter and energy involved. 

Berthollet may be regarded as the first true physical chemist, on account 
of his classical views on mass action. Largely because the time was not ripe 
for it, his views were not generally adopted. 

A quarter of a century later (1867), Guldberg and Waage gave a precise 
mathematical expression of the law, but still it attracted very little attention 
from investigators. A tremendous impetus was given to the subject by the 
electrolytic dissociation theory of Arrhenius (1887), and the extension of 
the additive laws of gases to dilute solutions, by Van't Hoff (1885). This 
was but a comparatively small field in the subject, but it stimulated activity 
along the whole line, the wonderful increase of our knowledge concerning the 
velocity or rates of reaction, the heat changes involved, and the marvelous 
development of electrolytic chemistry being pertinent instances. 

The generalization of Gibbs, known as the phase rule (1876), which accu- 
rately states the condition for equilibrium in the system, and the Theorem of 
Le Chatelier (1884), that any change in the factors of equilibrium from out- 
side is followed by a reverse change within the system, together with the 
mass law, now give us a consistent theoretical foundation for the subject. In 
general terms, it may be said that all chemistry, at least all theoretical chem- 
istry, properly belongs to the province of physical chemistry, and the title, 
while in many ways convenient, is misleading. 

III. ORGANIC CHEMISTKV. 

Compounds containing carbon enter into all the products of a living 
cell. For this reason the chemistry of carbon compounds came to be known 
as organic chemistry. This should not be taken as a definition, however, 
without limitations. Many of the compounds containing carbon are not 
known to enter into living tissue in any way, and their connection with 
it is very remote and not essential. On the other hand, it should be 
remembered that many organic compounds, and those even of most impor- 
tance, contain some other element, — nitrogen, for example, — as the signifi- 
cant one. 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN CHEMISTRY 



197 



While nearly all the known elements can enter into organic compounds, 
the vast majority of such substances are composed of hut very few. For 
instance, those classes of which sugar, starch, the fats, etc., are examples, 
contain only carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen. With nitrogen, sulphur, and 
phosphorus added to these elements, almost the entire range of organic 
chemistry is covered. Organic chem- 
istry, therefore, differs from inor- 
ganic chemistry in that, while the 
number of compounds is much larger, 
the number of elements involved is 
very limited. 

Berzelius may be regarded as hav- 
ing founded organic chemistry in the 
beginning of this century. As a 
result of his analyses of the salts 
of organic acids, he clearly demon- 
strated that the laws of definite and 
multiple proportions hold equally for 
organic compounds and for inorganic 
ones. The work of this master was 
ably furthered by Liebig (1803-1873), 
who devised most elegant methods 
for the analytical investigation of 
organic compounds, methods which 
are in use to-day without any essen- 
tial change. 

Very soon, however, it was found 
that organic compounds existed hav- 
ing the same percentage composition, but quite dissimilar properties, physical 
and chemical, as, for instance, sugar and starch. Other striking examples 
are Faraday's discovery (1825) of a compound identical in composition with 
ethylene, but wholly different in properties ; and Wohler's classical synthesis 
(1828) of urea by the transformation of ammonium cyanate. Similar facts in 
the domain of inorganic chemistry, though now well known, were at that 
time wanting, and thus this most fruitful idea, designated as isomerism, was 
introduced into the science. 

The next great step was the introduction of the theory of radicles, first 
suggested tentatively by Berzelius (1810), but put forward in a definite way 
as one of the results of the classical investigation on benzoyl by Liebig 
and Wohler (1832). That is to say, a group of elements, or radicle, can 
pass through a series of compounds, from one to the other, as though the 
group were one single element. For years this idea was the guiding prin- 
ciple in chemical investigations, and was most useful in aiding the classifica- 
tion of chemical compounds and bringing order out of the chaos of accumu- 
lating observations. 

But the search for radicles was in a sense a vain one. We now know that 
no radicle exists as such by itself. Meanwhile, Dumas and his pupil Laurent 
had introduced and developed the theory of types, whereby all chemical com- 
pounds could be classified under four types, which marked a distinct step in 




MICHAEL FAKADAT. 



198 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

advance. Laurent, together with his colleague Gerhardt (1816-1856), recog- 
nized the shortcomings of both the radicle and type theories in their earlier 
foi-rns, and showed their inter-relation, when modified so as to do away with 
certain inconsistencies. 

Dumas had before this demonstrated the theory of substitution (1834), — 
that is, that in certain compounds one or more of the elements can be driven 
out and replaced by others without changing the essential characteristics of 
the compound. For instance, chloracetic acid, in which part of the hydrogen 
of acetic acid has been replaced by chlorine, contains all the essential charac- 
teristics of acetic acid ; in fact, some of them — its acidic properties, for 
example — being markedly accentuated. This theory was fiercely assailed at 
first, notably by Liebig. Like all theories of science, it was in the beginning 
pushed to the extreme, and put forward to explain things to which it was 
not applicable. It gradually came to demonstrate its own right to exist- 
ence, largely as a result of the work of Laurent and Gerhardt, and made its 
influence felt in the exposition of their ideas, to which reference has just 
been made. 

The development of these theories, about the middle of the century, was 
greatly hastened by the work of many brilliant investigators, notably Wurtz 
(1817-1884), Hofmann (1818-1892), Williamson (1824-), Kolbe (1818-1884), 
and Frankland (1825-) among others. 

Kekule proposed a new type, marsh gas or methane. Shortly afterwards, 
his well-known formula for benzene, the starting-point and foundation of the 
vast class of aromatic bodies, was proposed. He insisted that the time had 
come when chemists must ask what those ultimate particles, or atoms, of the 
elements themselves were doing in these compounds of various types. The 
answer was a grand one, and the result, our magnificent store of information 
concerning the constitution of organic compounds, or the way in which the 
atoms are connected with each other. It is not to be inferred that our know- 
ledge on this subject, in any one case, is complete. Far from it ! Much that 
is most interesting and important is apparently as remote from our grasp as 
ever. But we do know something about the general relations of the atoms 
in the molecule, and our knowledge, so far as it goes, is definite and 
precise. 

Somewhat later, Van't Hoff and Lebel, at the same time but indepen- 
dently, introduced the study of the space relations of organic compounds by 
suggesting the simplest possible space formula (the tetrahedron) for marsh 
gas or methane, of which all other organic compounds may, theoretically at 
least, be regarded as derivatives. Many inexplicable relations, especially 
among isomers, now became clear. The theory was at first bitterly as- 
sailed, especially by Kolbe. It found an able champion in Wislicenus 
(1838-), however, and has so thoroughly established itself, that it may be 
safely said that at the present day it is the controlling idea in the large 
majority of organic investigations. 

The carbon atom is characterized by a wonderful facility in uniting not 
only with other elements, but with itself. It would even appear as though 
its influence in this regard extended to other elements united with it, as nitro- 
gen, for instance, shows an unexpected ability to unite with nitrogen in 
organic compounds. 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN CHEMISTRY 199 

Further, the carbon atom, is characterized by an unusually constant valency, 
namely, four. These two characteristics account for homology, that is, for 
a series of similar compounds differing in composition one from the other by 
— CH2, and enables us to trace back all organic compounds to one mother 
substance — marsh gas or methane. 

These ideas have also been more or less successfully applied to the study 
of the composition of inorganic compounds. The assistance organic chemis- 
try has given to the general subject is incalculable. Finally, it may be said, 
that while in the nature of the case our ideas of structure in organic com- 
pounds cannot be regarded as proved, or as not subject to possible future 
modifications, we have, at least, a consistent theory and good working hypo- 
thesis. A homely illustration of our present ideas may be drawn from the 
modern high city building. The skeleton of this building is made of iron, 
about which are grouped the brick, stone, wood, and other materials to form a 
complete building. So the organic body is built on a chain or frame-work or 
skeleton of carbon atoms, about which are grouped the atoms of hydrogen, 
oxygen, and nitrogen, or radicle compounds thereof. 

It is not possible here to even name some of the more eminent workers 
who for a quarter of a century have contributed to our knowledge of organic 
chemistry. This branch of chemistry has been the vogue, and has been 
pushed almost to the limit of possibility since 1875. Many almost unexplored 
fields still remain, but chemists recognize the fact that in theory and practice 
organic chemistry has reached a high degree of perfection, and they are 
returning to continue the researches in other fields which have for so long 
been almost neglected. 

IV. ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY. 

No branch of chemical science has a more general interest for the public 
than that which relates to the determination of the materials of which bodies 
are composed, and the proportions in which they exist. 

At the beginning of the century considerable progress had been made in 
this branch of knowledge by the researches of Boyle (1626-1691), Hoffmann, 
Margraff (1709-1780), Scheele and Bergmann (1735-1784). Berzelius, as has 
already been mentioned, had added a new and valuable factor to chemical 
analysis by the development of the blowpipe, and in the early part of the 
century mineral analysis was still further advanced by Klaproth (1743-1817), 
Rose (1798-1873), and many others. 

No one man did so much to advance this branch of chemical science as 
Fresenius (1818-1897). He collated and proved all the proposed methods 
of analysis, both qualitative and quantitative, and out of a confused mass of 
material formed a logical system of procedure, which has proved invaluable 
to the progress of chemical science in all its branches. 

The volumetric methods of analysis, which save so much time and labor 
without sacrificing accuracy, were developed by Gay-Lussac, Vauquelin 
(1763-1879), Mohr (1806-1879), Volhard, Sutton, Fehling, and Liebig. 

The methods of gas analysis have been worked out chiefly by Bunsen, ably 
assisted by Winkler and Hempel. 

The methods of determining the elementary bodies in organic compounds 
have been developed by Dumas, Liebig, Will, Varrentrap, and Kjeldahl, to the 



800 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 



last of whom chemical analysis owes a debt of gratitude for the invention of 
a speedy and accurate method ot determining nitrogen. 

Not much loss is the debt due to Goooh for the invention of the perforated 
platinum crucible, carrying an asbestos felt for securing precipitates by filtra- 
tion, in a form suitable to ignition without further preparation. 

Through the classic researches of Arago (1786-1853) and Biot (1774-1862), 

polarized lighl lias been made a most- 
valuable adjuncl to chemical research, 
serving as it does to measure the quan- 
tity of various alkaloids, essential oils, 
and sugars. 

Based on these researches of Biot 
and Arago, Yeutzko. Soleil, Sdieibler, 
Duboscq, Landolt, and Lippich have 
constructed apparatus, which have made 
an exact science of optical saccharime- 
trv. Optical analysis is not without its 
relation to theoretical chemistry, for 
by it lias been proved the assumption 
that optically active bodies contain an 
asymmetrical carbon atom. — that is, 
one which combines with tour different 
atoms or radicles. 

Electricity has become also one of 
the most useful factors in chemical ana- 
lysis. Many metals are easily depos- 
ited by electrolytic action, and their separation and determination rendered 
easy and certain. 

Chemical analysis has not only given us accurate knowledge of the consti- 
tuents of matter, but by revealing the deportment of molecules and groups 
of molecules in inorganic and organic compounds, has opened up a path for 
organic and synthetic chemistry which otherwise must have remained forever 
closed. 

The discovery and development of spectrum analysis is one oi' the great 
achievements ot the nineteenth century in chemical science. 

Wollaston, in L802, first noticed that the spectrum of the sun's light, when 
greatly magnified, was not composed of colors gradually changing from one to 
the other, but that the continuity of the colors was interrupted by dark bands. 
Fraunhofer, in 1S14, had made a map o\' the solar spectrum, showing 576 of 
these dark lines. Fraunhofer was entirely ignorant of the cause of those dark 
lines, but when he had found them, not only in the light from the sun, but 
also from the moon and tin 1 fixed stars, he properly concluded that they were 
duo to something entirely independent of the earth. 

It remained for Bunsen and Kirchoff, in I860, to point out the fact that 
these dark lines were characteristic of certain chemical elements existing in 
the sun and its photosphere, and this fact is the foundation of spectrum ana- 
lysis. The broad black band in the sun's spectrum, called by Fraunhofer D, 
corresponded exactly in position and in width with the yellow band produced 
fey a flame containing incandescent sodium. There was no doubt whatever, 




Wll 1,1AM CROOKES, 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN CHEMISTRY 201 

therefore, that the two phenomena were due to the same cause; but why in 
the one case should the band be black and in the other yellow '.' This ques- 
tion was answered by the discovery of the fact that a ray of light colored by 
incandescent sodium, passing through a luminous atmosphere of the same 
metal, would lose by absorption all of its yellow color, and would display a 
black band where before the yellow color existed. 

Based upon this observation, the development of spectrum analysis "went 
forward with amazing rapidity. The hundreds of lines in the sun's spectrum 
were found to occupy exactly the position of luminous lini s in the spectra of 
various metals, and thus it was possible for the chemist to extend his investi- 
gations beyond the limits of the earth, and distinguish the chemical elements 
in the sun and in the fixed stars billions of miles farther away from us than the 
sun itself. Celestial chemistry has thus become a fixed and definite science. 

But the value of spectral examinations has extended still farther. .Many 
luminous lines were observed in the spectrum which were not found in the 
spectra of any known element. The inference then logically arose that there 
were elements yet undiscovered to which these lines were due. From this 
starting point investigations proceeded which have led to the discovery of a 
l.i rge number of elementary bodies. Among the important elements that have 
been discovered by means of spectrum analysis may be mentioned: caesium, 
rubidium, thallium, indium, gallium, ytterbium, and scandium. 

Spectrum analysis is also extremely useful in proving the verity of sup- 
posed new elements ; for if a supposed new element should be found to give 
a series of spectral lines coincident with those already known, it would be a 
positive proof of the fact that the supposed new element was but a mixture 
of bodies already known to exist. 

V. SYNTHETICAL CHEMISTRY. 

This branch of chemical science has for its object the building up of the 
more complex from the simpler forms of matter. In the early part of the 
century, Chevreul and Wohler laid the foundation of the science by the syn- 
thesis of fattydike bodies and urea. Berthellot and Friedel (1832-) in France, 
and Williamson and Frankland in England, added much to our knowledge. 
Kolbe, in Germany, made salicylic acid so abundantly as to banish the 
natural article from the market. The synthesis of coloring matters resem- 
bling indigo was also a great blow to that industry. From the products of 
the distillation of coal, chemists were able to make thousands of valuable 
bodies of the greatest utility. Many medicinal substances and nearly all the 
common dyes trace their origin to coal. 

Fischer (b. 1852), in Germany, has contributed his remarkable results in 
the synthesis of sugar to the last years of the century. Lillienfeld, in 
Austria, has gone still further, and has built up a body which has many of 
the properties of protein, one of the most highly organized of organic sub- 
stances. 

In the inorganic world synthesis is not so difficult a matter as the vast 
number of compounds attest. By means of the electric furnace, Aloissan, in 
France, has succeeded in uniting carbon with many of the metallic elements, 
and thus opened the path for new achievements in passing directly from inor- 
ganic to organic compounds. 



202 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



The progress of chemical synthesis has already blotted out the old distinc- 
tion between inorganic and organic chemistry, and we can no longer say of 
organic bodies that they are the products of living cells. Organic bodies are 
those which contain a carbon or other elementary skeleton, to which are at- 
tached the elements or groups of ele- 
ments forming the complete body. 

The claim which has been made that 
synthetical chemistry would in the near 
future produce the food of man, and 
thus relegate agriculture to the domain 
of the useless or forgotten arts, is, how- 
ever, wholly without scientific founda- 
tion. The function of the farmer will 
not be usurped by the chemist. The 
future will see the most important con- 
tributions to chemistry coming from the 
field of organic chemistry, but it will 
also see the farmer following in the fur- 
row, and man depending for his food on 
the fields of waving 1 srrain. 




<IR HENRY 15ESSEMEK. 



VI. METALLURGICAL CHEMISTRY. 

This is the oldest branch of chemical 
science, and naturally the one which 
was furthest advanced at the beginning of the century. Nevertheless, the 
advances which the past one hundred years have seen in this science are 
most surprising. Gold and silver are now secured from ores so poor as to 
have rendered them of no value a hundred years ago. The Bessemer process 
of steel making (1856) has revolutionized the world, and made possible rail- 
roads and steamships. The basic Bessemer process of making steel from 
pig-iron rich in phosphorus, has opened up rich mines of iron ore hitherto 
valueless. The basic phosphatic slag, resulting from this process, is of the 
highest value in the fields, and has brought agriculture and metallurgy into 
intimate relationship. The electric furnace has made aluminium almost as 
cheap as iron, bulk for bulk, and electric welding bids fair to take the place 
of the old process, with the cheapening of metals. 

VII. AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. 

Sir Humphry Davy, in the beginning of the century, delivered a course 
of lectures on the relations of chemistry to agriculture, and these were pub- 
lished in book form. In France, important contributions were made to 
agricultural chemical science by Vauquelin, Chevreul (1786-1889), and Bous- 
singault (1802-1887), who made important researches before the middle of 
the century. The most important work in agricultural chemistry, however, 
was done by Liebig. His achievements so overshadowed those of his pre- 
decessors that he is generally regarded, although improperly, as the father 
of that branch of the science. 

The early achievements of these workers showed the relatively small por- 
tions of the crops that were derived from the soil. The study of the ash 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN CHEMISTRY 203 

constituents of plants laid the foundation of rational fertilizing, and the 
utilization of the stores of plant food preserved in great natural deposits. 

Beginning with the middle of the century, the attention of agronomists 
was called to the desirability of utilizing the deposits of guano, found in the 
islands along the west coast of South America ; of the deposits of phosphate 
rock existing in many localities ; and latex-, of the potash salts, discovered 
near Stassfurt, which completed the trio of available natural foods most 
useful to plants. 

The establishment of an agricultural experiment station by Sir John Lawes 
at Rothamstead (1834), before the middle of the century, set an example 
which has been followed by the establishment of experiment stations in all 
the civilized countries of the world. 

Under the great stimulus given to agricultural research by these stations, 
progress during the latter half of the century has been very rapid. There 
now exist in Europe nearly one hundred stations devoted to agricultural 
research, and in this country the number is half as great. 

Conspicuous achievements, marking the closing years of the century, have 
been the discovery of the methods whereby organic nitrogen is rendered 
suitable for plant food, and atmospheric nitrogen fixed and rendered avail- 
able by leguminous plants. In the first instance, it has been established that 
organic nitrogen in the soil can only be utilized by plants after it has been 
oxidized by bacterial action. In the case of leguminous plants, nitrogen is 
rendered available for nutrition by means of bacteria inhabiting nodules in 
the roots of the legumes. These two great discoveries have proved of incal- 
culable benefit to practical agriculture. Chemical science in its relations to 
agriculture has shown that the fertil- 
ity of the soil may be conserved and 
increased, while the magnitude of the 
crops harvested is sustained or aug- 
mented. Thus, no matter how rapid 
may be the increase of population, agri- 
cultural chemistry will provide abun- 
dant food. 



VIII. GRAPHIC CHEMISTRY. 

The honor of discovering that prints 
could be made by the action of light on 
certain salts, such as those of silver, 
belongs to Daguerre, in 1839. 

The fundamental principle of graphic 
chemistry is that metallic salts, sensi- 
tive to the light, when in contact with 
organic matter, suffer a complete or 
partial reduction and are rendered in- LOU ts jacques daguekre. 

soluble. The intensity of the reduc- 
tion is measured exactly by the intensity of the light. When light is 
reflected from any object capable of producing different degrees of intensity, 
as from the hair and face of a man, the reduction of the metal is greatest 
by the light from that portion of the physiognomy which gives the greatest 




204 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

reflection. Thus, when the unreduced metallic salt is washed out, a perma- 
nent record, the negative, of the object is left. 

It is a long step from the first daguerreotype to the modern photograph, 
but the principle of the process has remained unchanged. 

Photographs in natural colors have of late years been obtained. One 
method is by interposing a film of metallic mercury behind the sensitive 
plate which must be transparent. The reflected rays of light, having differ- 
ent wave lengths, precipitate the metal in superimposed films, corresponding 
to the wave or half-wave length. When a negative thus formed is seen by 
reflected light, the emergent rays from the superimposed films acting as 
mirrors are transformed into the original colors of the photographed object. 

The various methods of printing by heliotypes, photolithographs, photo- 
gravures, etc., are illustrations of the application of graphic chemistry to the 
arts. 

IX. DIDACTIC CHEMISTRY. 

The lectures of Davy and Faraday in England, of Wohler and Liebig in 
Germany, of Chevreul and Dumas in France, and of Silliman (1779-1864) 
in this country, made the study of chemistry attractive and easy during the 
early part of the century. 

It was noticed, however, that the students who finished these courses, 
while well versed in the principles of the science, were not able to apply 
thern in practice. Towards the middle of the century, therefore, a radical 
change in the system of instruction was inaugurated. The student was put to 
work and taught to question nature for himself. The universities of France 
and Germany were equipped with working desks where students of chemistry' 
put into practice at once the principles of the science which they heard eluci- 
dated in the lecture room. Cooke, at Harvard, was the chief apostle of the 
laboratory method in this country, and this method of instruction has now 
spread, until even the high and grammar schools have their chemical labora- 
tories. 

In our universities, students may now begin their chemical studies asso- 
ciated with laboratory practice in the first year of their course, and continue 
it to the end. Graduates of such courses are not only grounded in the 
theories of chemistry, but are thoroughly familiar with its practice. Under 
this system, coupled with the demand for chemical services in every branch 
of industry, the number of trained chemists has speedily increased. At this 
time (1899) there are more than four thousand trained chemists in the United 
States. 

X. CHEMISTRY OF FERMENTATION. 

Our knowledge of fermentation and bacterial action is practically all com- 
prised in the achievements of the nineteenth century. Prior to this time it 
was known that fermentation took place, but its causes and character were 
wholly mysterious. The great work of Pasteur (1859) resulted in the fact 
that fermentations were chiefly caused by the activity of living cells, which 
have the capacity of reproduction. The most common form of fermentation 
is that whereby sugar is converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide. The 
name of the organism that produces this change is saccharomyces cerevisiae. 

Another class of fermentation is seen in the process of digestion. This 
species of fermentation is typified by the action of sprouted barley on starch, 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN CHEMISTRY 



205 




LOUIS PASTE UK. 



whereby the starch is converted into sugar. The active principle of the 
saliva, ptyalin> has the same property, and when starchy bodies are masti- 
cated, a part, at least, of the starch which they contain is converted into 
sugar. The active principle of malt is known as diastase, and this, as well 
as ptyalin, belongs to a class of ferments 
which are incapable of reproduction. 

All the decompositions of organic mat- 
ter, such as the decay of meats and veg- 
etables, are now known to be forms of 
fermentation, due to the action of certain 
organisms known by the group name of 
bacteria. This discovery led naturally 
to the process of preserving organic com- 
pounds by sterilization. The principles 
on which this process depends are very 
simple. If an organic body, such as a 
fruit or vegetable, be subjected for some 
time to a high temperature, — that of 
boiling water will usually suffice, — the 
fermentation germs which it contains 
will be destroyed. If then it be sealed 
in such a way, either hermetically or 
with a plug of sterilized cotton, so that no 
living germ can reach it, decomposition 
cannot take place. Certain chemicals, such for instance as salicylic acid and 
formaldehyde, have the property of paralyzing or suspending germ action, 
and hence organic bodies treated with these substances may also be pro- 
tected against decomposition. 

The activity .of fermentation is made use of in the technical arts. Bread is 
made light by fermentation, and wine, beer, and cider are made by the fer- 
mentation of fruits and grains. Alcohol is produced by the fermentation of 
grains and potatoes, their starch having previously been converted into sugar 
by malt. 

Buchner has lately shown that all fermentation is of one kind, namely, 
that due to ferments of the diastase type. The fermentation produced by 
yeast, for instance, is not due, according to his observations, to the living 
cells, but to the products of their activity. By destroying yeast cells, by 
grinding and high pressure, and using their contents, he has secured a 
vigorous fermentation similar in every respect to that caused by the cells 
themselves. 

XI. ELECTRO-CHEMISTRY. 

The electric furnace, which affords a higher heat than chemists had been 
able to secure, has been the promoter of great advances in inorganic chemis- 
try. Moissan (b. 1852), a French chemist, has been the most successful in 
applying the heat of the electric furnace to analytic and synthetic studies. 
One of the practical results which has come from these studies has been 
the virtual bridging over of the chasm which has been supposed to exist 
between organic and inorganic compounds. Under the influence of the heat 
of the electric furnace, carbon, which is the keystone of organic compounds, 



206 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 



has been made to combine directly with the metals, forming a series of bodies 
known as metallic carbides. The carbide of calcium, under the action of 
water, yields a gas known as acetylene, which by a series of reactions can 
be converted into alcohol. Thus alcohol, which only a short time ago was 
supposed to be solely the product of organic life, is shown also to result from 
a simple inorganic reaction such as has been shown above. 

The importance of electrolysis in metallurgical and analytical chemistry 
has already been noticed. So rapid has been the progress along these lines 
that the terms metallurgical chemistry and electro-chemistry are in some 
respects almost synonymous. 

Electricity has also been employed in many of the chemical arts ; e. g., in 
the promotion of crystallization and purification of organic solutions as prac- 
ticed in the sugar industry. 

Though belonging rather to analytical than to electro-chemistry, one may 
here mention the wonders of that discovery which belongs to the close of the 
nineteenth century, and which is known as ''liquid air." Until 1877 air — 
oxygen and nitrogen — was regarded as a permanent gas. Oxygen liquefies 

at 300° below zero and nitro- 
gen at 320°. When air is 
cooled to those degrees it as- 
sumes a misty form and falls 
like raindrops to the bottom 
of the vessel. It then gives 
off vapor, like boiling water. 
If poured out on a conductor, 
as iron or ice, it assumes the 
gaseous state so rapidly as to 
amount to an explosion. The 
many experiments with it are 
simply wonderful, and the 
practical claims for it are with- 
out end. Already it runs an 
engine and motor vehicles. It 
is claimed that it will complete the problem of aerial navigation; that it 
is the coming power in gunnery and blasting ; that it affords the ideal sanita- 
tion ; that in snrgery it offers the most perfect chemical cauterization. 




DRIVING A NAIL WITH A HAMMER MADE OF 
FROZEN MERCURY. 



CONCLUSION. 

There is no branch of science that holds such an intimate relation to the 
progress and welfare of man as chemistry. First of all, it is chiefly instru- 
mental in providing him with food and clothing, as has been shown in the 
paragraph on agricultural chemistry. In the second place it has extended 
his domain over matter and, in connection with physics, has established the 
identity of the composition of the universe with that of the earth. The 
universe has thus been shown to be of a single origin and of uniform pro- 
perties. By understanding the constitution of matter, with which he is 
surrounded, man is able to utilize to the best advantage the material at his 
disposal. Thus invention is promoted and the application of chemical know- 
ledge in the arts extended. 



THE CENTURY'S MUSIC AND DRAMA 

By RITER FITZGERALD, A.M., 

Dramatic Critic "City Item" Philadelphia. 

I. MUSIC. 

Music finds its highest artistic development in the happy combinations 
which go to make up the opera. These combinations passed through various 
historic stages, and ripened into noble maturity by the end of the eighteenth 
century, under the guiding genius of the Handels, Mozarts, and Glucks of the 
times. Their legacy passed, in the nineteenth century, to a host of worthy suc- 
cessors, among whom stands, as a central figure, Verdi, the great Italian oper- 
atic composer ; while Wagner, of Germany, has striven with herculean might 
to revolutionize the lyrical drama by polemical writing, by twofold author- 
ship of words and notes, and by a new application of principles gathered 
from antecedent reformers. His efforts produced a commotion in the art 
world which might be compared to that excited by the rivalry between 
Buonocini and Handel in London, or Piccini and Gluck in Paris, but for the 
fact that in each of these instances the contention was between one composer 
and another, whereas in the case of Wagner it was the opposition of one 
composer to all others in the world, save the few who, believing in the man, 
his teachings, and his wonderful powers of application, undertook propa- 
gandism as a duty, and endeavored to make proselytes to their faith. He 
did not live to see the day when his efforts could be called completely suc- 
cessful, and his death in 1883 left judgment quite wide open as to his theo- 
retical and practical merits. The nineteenth century closes with the question 
still on as to the permanence or evanescence of his many unique, ponderous, 
and revolutionizing productions. 

Verdi, who still lives, surpasses all the composers of his time in the beauty 
of his melodies and the intensity of his dramatic power. 

Eossini, whose " Guillaume Tell," which was produced in Paris in 1829, 
was his masterpiece, ruled the operatic world before Verdi, until he died in 
Paris in 1868. 

Meyerbeer, whose principal operas are " Les Huguenots," " Le Prophete," 
and "L'Africaine " (the latter produced in Paris in 1865, the year after its 
composer's death), was regarded as a remarkable composer, whose knowledge 
'of effect was unsurpassed, and whose fine intelligence and musical knowledge 
almost made the world forgive him for frequent lack of inspiration. 

Halevy, whose only lasting success was " La Juive," composed other 
operas, such as " Charles VI.," " La Peine de Chypre," " L'Eclair," and " Les 
Mousquetaires de la Peine," that achieved a certain amount of success in 
France, which success was interrupted by Halevy's death at Nice in 1862. 

Gounod, in 1859, made his most remarkable success with his greatest 
opera, "Faust," which, after the subject had been treated by Spohr, Lind- 
painter, Schumann, Berlioz, and other distinguished composers, has remained 
the only completely successful opera on the subject, although Boito's " Metis- 



208 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 




tofile " (another version of the subject) achieved a marked success in Italy in 
1868, and placed Boito among the remarkable composers of the day. As for 
Gounod, his other operas never equaled his " Faust." Next in merit comes 
-" Romeo et Juliette" ( produced in Paris in 1867) and then his " Mireille," 

which appeared in 1864, and " Philemon 
et Baucis," an exquisite little comic opera 
produced in 1860. His last opera, " Le 
Tribut de Zamora," was given at the 
Grand Opera, Paris, in 1881, and failed. 
Donizetti, who died in Bergamo in 
1848, was for many years one of the 
most popular operatic composers. He 
possessed undoubted ability, but wrote 
carelessly, as the Italians did in that 
day. But his operas contain much that 
is beautiful, and often show fine dra- 
matic power. His "Lucia" contains 
inspired pages, while other portions are 
inexcusably commonplace. The same 
remark applies to his "Lucrezia Bor- 
gia," " La Favorita," and " Maria di 
Rohan ; " while in his comic operas, 
giuseppr veudi. such as " Don Pasquale " (which was 

composed in three weeks), his "L' Eli- 
sire d' Amore " and " La Fille clu Regiment," Donizetti appears to better 
advantage. They are melodious and very agreeably written. His fertility 
may be imagined when you are told that he composed over sixty operas dur- 
ing his career, as well as other compositions. 

Bellini, whose career was a short one, as he was born in 1802 and died in 
1835, was badly trained and could not be called a well-schooled musician, being 
rather a musician by instinct. But he possessed remarkable ability, and, per- 
ceiving that the persistently florid style of Rossini (which all the composers 
of that time blindly imitated) was approaching an end, treated his melodies 
with a simplicity and directness that at once attracted attention and met with ' 
approval. 

Bellini's knowledge of instrumentation was childish, but his intimacy with. 
Rubini, the famous tenor, aided him in achieving an admirable treatment of 
the voice. His operas were very sweet and melodious. The two operas by 
which he will be remembered are "La Sonnambula" and "Norma," the 
latter being, with all its faults, a great opera. 

Another talented and prolific operatic composer was Mercadante, whose 
" II Giuramento " (produced in 1837) achieved considerable popularity. But 
Mercadante's successes were generally confined to Italy. He composed sixty 
operas, and died in 1870 in Naples. 

Ponchielli, who was born in 1834 and died in 1886, will be principally 
remembered by his remarkably beautiful opera, " La Gioconda" ( produced 
in 1876), which, together with a re-written version of his first opera, "I Pro- 
messi Sposi," gave him great popularity in Italy and spread his reputation to 
other countries. 




BKETHOVEN IN HIS STUDY. 



THE CENTURY'S MUSIC AND DRAMA 



209 



As for Italy's young composers that profess to represent the modern 
Italian school of opera, they are led by Puccini, whose " Manon Lescaut " 
and " La Bohenie " are melodious and full of merit. 

Mascagni and Leoncavallo, whose "Cavalleria Rusticana" and "I Pa- 
gliacci " achieved popularity, have not realized expectations. Nor has Gior- 
dano, whose "Andrea Chenier " was well received in Italy. 

Bizet, whose " Carmen " is one of the most remarkable of modern operas, 
died in Paris in 1875. " Carmen " has remained in the repertoire. His other 
opera, " Les Pecheurs de Perles," only achieved a moderate success. 




GRAND OPERA HOUSE, PARIS. 



One of France's greatest musicians, Hector Berlioz, was born in 1803 and 
died in 1869. His operas, " Les Troyens," " Benvenuto Cellini," his " Damna- 
tion de Faust," his " Borneo et Juliette " symphony, are all great and afforded 
Wagner a model that he imitated persistently. 

In 1871 Prance lost one of its most talented operatic composers, Auber, 
whose "Masaniello " and "Fra Diavolo" are two of the most popular operas 
■ever written by a Frenchman. Auber composed comic operas charmingly, and 
his "Domino Noir," "Diamants de la Couronne," "Haydee," and other 
works of a similar character, entertained the French people for many years. 
Auber's death has left a vacancy that has not been filled. 

The modern French composers cannot be called great. Saint-Saens, whose 
most successful work is 'f Samson et Dalila" (which is more of an oratorio 
than an opera, and which was produced in 1877), has composed other operas. 
14 



210 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



such as " Henri VIII.," " Ascanio," et cetera, which lack originality and 
inspiration. 

Massenet has composed " Le lioi de Lahore," " He'rodiade," "Manon," 
" Werther," et cetera, that have had passing successes. 

Both Saint-Saens and Massenet have attempted to follow Wagner in their 
sonorous orchestration ; but their works lack distinction. The French com- 
posers of to-day have been demoralized by Wagner's affectations. 

The death, of Ambroise Thomas, in 1895, caused France the loss of one of 
her most successful and accomplished operatic composers, whose " Mignon " 
will be long admired as a very charming opera comique, while his " Hamlet," 




METROPOLITAN OPEKA HOUSE, NEW YOKE. 



though containing portions that are ably written, has never attained outside 
France any remarkable success. 

Reyer, whose "Sigurd" was produced in 1884 with considerable success, is 
a follower of Meyerbeer. His " Salammbo " was produced in 1890, but did 
not attract the attention expected outside of France. 

German opera of the latter part of the century has been so demoralized by 
the influence of Wagner that the German composers have become little more 
than imitators of his pronounced mannerisms. 

Weber's " Der Freischiitz " remains the most popular of German operas, 
just as Verdi's " II Trovatore " is the most popular of Italian operas. 

Spohr, Lindpainter, and many other German composers of ability have been 
laid on the shelf. 



THE CENTURY'S MUSIC AND DRAMA 



211 




WILLIAM RICHARD WAGNER, 



Marshner, who died in Hanover in 1861, showed in his "Hans Heiling " 
that he was a follower of Weber, as well as in his " Templar and Jewess." 

Cornelius, who died in Mainz in 1874, made his principal success with his 
"Barber of Bagdad," a comic opera in 
which the manner of Wagner was imi- 
tated. In 1864 " The Cid " was produced 
in Weimar, but it was found depressingly 
heavy and labored. 

Goldmark, a follower of Meyerbeer, 
made a success in 1875 with his " Queen 
of Saba" that was not equaled by his 
" Merlin," produced in 1886, or his "Pris- 
oner of War," produced in 1899. 

To return to the great leader of opera 
— Verdi — one may say of him that his 
operas are divided into three periods. 
The first included the works written in 
the old Neapolitan style as he had found 
it. To this class belong "Nabucco," 
" Attila," et cetera. To the second pe- 
riod, which shows remarkable dramatic 
color and beautiful melody, belong "Ei- 
goletto," " Ernani." and " Ballo in Mas- 
chera" (in which Verdi began to pay attention to his instrumentation). To 
the third period belongs " Aida," which is his most characteristic and remark- 
able opera, in which the melody is wonderfully fresh and beautiful, combined 

with remarkable science. 

" Otello " is also a great work, written 
at a time of life when most composers 
retire, and broadly dramatic in its treat- 
ment of the situations, illuminated by 
rich and expressive instrumentation. 

As for « Falstaff," the latest opera that 
Verdi has written, and probably the last 
he will write, it is the greatest modern 
comic opera, just as Mozart's " Nozze di 
Figaro " is the greatest comic opera of 
the past. It convinces the world that 
Verdi's genius is inexhaustible. 

Next to Verdi comes Wagner, the 
anarchist of music, who began in "Ri- 
enzi" and -The Flying Dutchman" by 
imitating the Italian forms of melody. 
In "Tannhauser," portions are very 
beautiful and melodious ; in " Lohen- 
grin," portions are fine; but Wagner's 
idea of effect was bad and he never knew when to stop, so that many of 
the scenes are interminable. This fault increased as Wagner composed the 
" Nibelungen " series for the crazy king of Bavaria. Melody vanished, the 




EDWIN FORREST. 



212 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 




CHARLOTTE SAUNDERS CUSHMAN. 



singers became secondary to the orchestra, which was persistently noisy. 
Wagner's effort was to create a new school of opera, in which everything 
should be minutely descriptive. He went too far and opened the question 
of failure. In opera the voices claim the first place, and the orchestra is an 
accompaniment, so that Wagner's method was radically wrong. 

Independent of this, he attempted to 
infuse life into the " Nibelungen " series, 
whereas he adopted a tangled and child- 
ish fairy -story that was more absurd than 
impressive. The later Wagner operas, 
which the composer calls " music dra- 
mas," are tiresome and monotonous to 
such a degree that, with all the remarka- 
ble talent of Wagner, they may never 
become popular, and may be eventually 
laid on the shelf, to be regarded in the 
future as musical curios. 

The musicians of the United States 
are steadily developing, and for so young 
a country Ave have a large number of 
composers of first-class ability, such as 
Macdowell, Eoote, Lang, Chadwick, Gil- 
christ, and many others who have pro- 
duced important compositions. 

In opera the American composers have 
done nothing, for the reason that there are no opportunities for the produc- 
tion of such works. If there were, we should soon have many operatic com- 
posers, and should speedily take high rank in the lyric drama. 

II. DRAMA. 

The theatre of the latter part of the century shows a remarkable advance, 
in certain respects, over the theatre of the past, which consisted of a " star," 
an inferior company, poor scenery and appointments, et cetera ; whereas 
to-day there are many more really good actors and actresses, the theatres are 
far more comfortable and artistic, the scenery, costumes and details are 
beautiful and correct. 

We have no Mrs. Siddons, no Kemble, no Rachel, no Talma ; but we are con- 
fident that the actors and actresses of to-day are like the theatre of to-day, — 
they have more finish, and the results, while they may not rise to the plane of 
the school of Shakespeare, are nearer nature than they have ever been. 

The school of declamation, which belonged to the plays of the past, is the 
severest loss the stage of to-day has felt. The actors and actresses fail in 
elocution. They do not know where to put their emphasis. They seem lost 
when they appear in costume, and Shakespeare to-day has no distinguished 
exponents. 

The English-speaking stage of the century has been adorned by such elo- 
quent interpreters and powerful tragedians as Edwin Forrest, Charlotte Cush- 
man, Edwin Booth, and Henry Irving. But this illustrious roll has been 
almost extinguished by death; and, especially if applied to America, the 




SCENE FROM SHAKESPEARE'S PI. AT OF "ROMEO AND JULIET. 



214 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

question may well be asked, where is the actor or actress who can play Ham- 
let, or Macbeth, or King Lear, or Shylock as we were wont to see them ren- 
dered by those masters of the dramatic art, or as they should be rendered ? 
Salvini and Kossi have both passed away. Irving verges on retiracy. Of 
the great dramatic actresses left to the closing of the century, Mme. Sarah 
Bernhardt stands preeminent. The clay of the imposing declamatory drama 
seems to have lost its lustre at the sunset of the century. 

But the modern dramas and comedies are acted, even in the smaller parts, 
with admirable intelligence and effect, and we may add that the vice that dis- 
graced the stage of the past is by no means so visible in the theatre of the 
present. 

The coarseness that clung so long to the theatre is gradually disappear- 
ing, and the theatre-goers of to-day have discovered that the theatre, which 
was created to entertain the world, can do so without recourse to vulgarity. 

The theatres of the United States are the handsomest and most convenient 
in the world. This Mme. Sarah Bernhardt acknowledged the other day, 
while criticising the theatres of Paris, which lack many conveniences. 

Up to within twenty -five years of the close of the century, plays written 
by American authors were rare. Managers had to rely upon those composed 
in Europe. But at present the United States possesses many able and suc- 
cessful playwrights, just as it does its artists in all departments. There has 
not been a time during the century when the personal character of actors 
and actresses has escaped discussion, and sometimes violent criticism, by 
those prejudiced against the theatre. This does not seem to have lessened 
the estimation in which dramatic art is held, nor to have seriously diminished 
in number the legion who find in the drama their most pleasurable recreation 
and keenest intellectual delight. In answer to challenges of the morality of 
the stage, Bronson Howard has fittingly said : " I have never yet seen any- 
body who wanted a bad picture just because it was painted by a good man. 
It is society that corrupts the stage, not the stage that corrupts society." 



THE CENTURY'S LITERATURE 

By JAMES P. BOYD, A.M., L.B. 

In contrasting the world's nineteenth century literature with that of the 
eighteenth, one is impressed with the many remarkable differences. But 
by no means all of such differences are to the discredit of the older litera- 
ture. As instances, the prose literature of the nineteenth century may 
not surpass that of the eighteenth in elegance and accuracy of expression, 
though its progress has been very marked in the diversity of its applications 
to mental needs ; and the poetical literature of the nineteenth century may 
not excel that of the eighteenth in beauty and virility, though it has 
advanced in loftiness of theme and tenderness of mode. And so, when 
literature is divided into its many minor branches, as history, philosophy, 
the sciences, etc., various features of the old compare favorably with the 
new. 

It is in its general tone and universal aptitude that the literature of the 
nineteenth century stands out preeminent. The wonderful intellectual 
activity of the century has been, as it were, compelled to go forth along 
literary lines quite parallel with those that distinguish other fields of 
activity. This may have had a tendency in some instances to rob the 
century's literature of some of the sweetly imaginative elements, and to 
harden it in some of its essential forms, but the process was necessary to 
secure for it just that quality which would best meet a progressive demand. 
As the drift of human energy was toward the practical, so the dominant 
literary thought took on the form of direct and exact expression. There was 
less and less room for the indulgence of literary foible or speculative whim- 
sicality. Even where elegance of style met with occasional sacrifice, it was 
more than compensated by that general rise in literary tone which has 
characterized the century. Literature could not be untruthful amid active 
inquiry and scientific progress. It must reflect, more accurately than ever 
before, its birth inspirations and its legitimate uses. It must keep even 
pace with the demands for it. A world crying for intellectual bread could 
not be put off with an antiquated stone. 

Without closer analysis, the above is true of the literature of all reading 
and writing peoples who have kept touch with the century's progress. But 
it is especially true in the literature of English speaking peoples. History 
has, in accordance with a growing spirit of research, become more truthful, 
philosophy more expressive, and science more exact. The outcrop of books 
shows the yearnings of the century, not only as to their number but as to 
theme and treatment. Authors have multiplied as during no other world's 
era, and the proportion of those who have attained permanent distinction 
was never larger. 

" German literature," says Professor Ford, in " Self Culture " for February, 
1899, "has had its measure of ups and downs, but its first age was its 



216 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 




GEORGR BANCROFT 



golden age. From the beginning of the century to the present day is a far 
cry in German letters. Romanticism, idealism, realism — the Fatherland 
has lived through them all. And for what ? In a land of scholars no great 
philosopher; among hosts of verse-makers no great poet; among innumer- 
able story-writers, not one who has be- 
come known over a continent. 

" Still these last years in Germany 
have not been without some good work 
done, though often achieved under the 
spur of wrong ideals and improper 
motives. From the days of '48, when 
Young Germany felt for the first time 
the seductive charm of revolutionism, 
a new feeling has possessed German 
literature — a feeling that the past is 
past and out of date, potent once but 
potent no longer, and that the new age 
of man demands new principles, new 
ideals, a new faith. And so the mod- 
ern literature, particularly so since 1870, 
has been marked by iconoclasm and 
startling innovation ; it has discarded 
sentiment and fine writing, and made 
a plea for scientific methods, with the 
privilege of exhibiting exact scientific results. Crimes, disease, and grin- 
ning skeletons have been dragged forth to the public gaze, for art is no 
longer art that portrays the ideal and not the true. Such, in short, is the 
creed by which the realistic or naturalistic school has thought to over- 
throw the old, conventional, and frivolous, to foster the spirit of the new 
nationality, and prepare a balm for the wounds of the poor. 

"Two men stand to-day as leaders of this new movement, — Hermann 
Sudermann and Gerhardt Hauptmann, — the most commanding figures in 
contemporaneous German literature." 

During the nineteenth century the United States took a high and firm 
place in the domain of literature, and, it may be said, has evolved a litera- 
ture that in scope and style is peculiar to her institutions and environment. 
Her array of authors, both in number and reputation, compares favorably 
with that of countries boasting of a thousand years of literary domination, 
and her literature is as diversified and practical as her activities. Among 
the many illustrious historians of the century she numbers her Bancroft, 
her Hildreth, her Prescott, her Motley, worthy counterparts of England's 
Lingard, Hallam, Macaulay, Buckle, and Kinglake. Among her poets are 
Longfellow, Whittier, Bryant, Lowell, Halleck, fit companions of Tennyson, 
Browning, Wordsworth, Scott, Swinburne. Among her novelists are Cooper, 
Hawthorne, Stowe, worthy congeners of Dickens, Thackeray, and Eliot. 
And so, the comparison holds in travel, philosophy, theology, law, and 
science. 

If in dramatic literature the United States has, during the century, pro- 
duced few authors of permanent reputation, and perhaps none to be com- 



THE CENTURY'S LITERATURE 



217 



pared with Knowles, Boucicault, Taylor, and Robertson, of the Old World r 
nevertheless it cannot be said of these that their plays have had more than 
a stage value. The drama of the century in following the demand for 
artistic and commercial results has sustained only in part the reputation of 
its literature. But in lieu of this partial decadence, there have sprung up 
new branches of literature which are, in a measure, compensatory. Among 
these are the critical literature of arts and design, the literature of philology, 
or of language, and the literature of political and social science. To these 
must be added two other kinds or classes of literature which, if not peculiar 
to the century, have yet found in it their most surprising evolution, greatest 
glory, and widest influence. These are the literature of the newspaper and 
magazine, as distinguished from that of the book. 

But before making further mention of these, let us read somewhat of New 
World literature as viewed from a critical English standpoint. Says the 
critic, " English critics are apt to bear down on the writers and thinkers of 
the New World with a sort of aristocratic hauteur ; they are perpetually 
reminding them of their immaturity and their disregard of the golden mean. 
Americans, on the other hand, are hard to please. Ordinary men among 
them are as sensitive to foreign censure as the irritable genius of other 
lands. Mr. Emerson is permitted to impress home truths on his country- 
men, as ' Your American eagle is very well ; but beware of the American 
peacock.' Such remarks are not permitted to Englishmen. If they point to 
any flaws in transatlantic manners or ways of thinking with an effort after 
politeness, it is i the good-natured cynicism of well-to-do age ; ' if they 
commend transatlantic institutions or 
achievements, it is, according to Mr. 
Lowell, ' with that pleasant European 
air of self-compliment in condescending 
to be pleased by American merit which 
we find so conciliating.' 

"Now that the United States have 
reached their full majority, it is time 
that England should cease to assume 
the attitude of guardian, and time that 
they should be on the alert to resent 
the assumption. Foremost among the 
more attractive features of transatlan- 
tic [American] literature is its freshness. 
The authority which is the guide of 
old nations constantly threatens to be- 
come tyrannical ; they wear their tradi- 
tions like a chain; and, in canonization 
of laws of taste, the creative laws are 
depressed. Even in England we write 

under fixed conditions ; with the fear of critics before our eyes, we are all 
bound to cast our ideas into similar moulds, and the name of ' free thinker' 
has grown to a term of reproach. Bunyan's ' Pilgrim's Progress' is perhaps 
the last English book written without a thought of being reviewed. There 
is a gain in the habit of self-restraint fostered by this state of things ; 




JOHN G. WIIITTIER. 



218 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



but there is a loss in the consequent lack of spontaneity ; and we may learn 
something from a literature that is ever ready for adventures. In America 
the love of uniformity gives place to impetuous impulses ; the most extreme 
sentiments are made audible, the most noxious ' have their day and cease to 
be ; ' and the truth being left to vindicate itself, the overthrow of error, 
though more gradual, may at last prove more complete. A New England 
poet can write with confidence of his country as the land 

'■' ' Where no one suffers loss or bleeds 
For thoughts that men calls heresies.' 

" Another feature of American literature is comprehensiveness. What it 
has lost in depth it has gained in breadth. Addressing a vast audience, 
it appeals to universal sympathies. In the Northern States, where com- 
paratively few have leisure to write well, almost every man, woman, and 
child can read, and does read. Books are to be found in every log-hut, 
and public questions are discussed by every scavenger. During the Civil 
War, when the Lowell factory -girls were writing verses, the 'Biglow Papers' 

were being recited in every smithy. 
The consequence is, that, setting aside 
the newspapers, there is little that is 
sectional in the popular religion or lit- 
erature ; it exalts and despises no class, 
and almost wholly ignores the lines that 
in other countries divide the upper ten 
thousand and the lower ten million. 
Where manners make men, the people 
are proud of their peerage, but they 
blush for their boors. In the New World 
there are no ' Grand Seigniors ' and no 
human vegetables ; and if there are 
fewer giants, there are also fewer mani- 
kins. American poets recognize no es- 
sential distinction between the ' village 
blacksmith ' and the ' caste of Vere de 
Vere.' Burns speaks for the one ; Byron 
and Tennyson for the other; Longfel- 
low, to the extent of his genius, for 
both. The same spirit which glorifies labor denounces every form of despo- 
tism but that of the multitude. Treed of the excesses due to wide license, 
and restrained by the good taste and culture of her nobler minds, we may 
anticipate for the literature of America, under the mellowing influences of 
time, an illustrious future." 

In treating of newspaper literature, one cannot proceed without blending 
its origin, style, and aims with the business enterprise that cultivates and sup- 
ports it. And this may be done all the more cheerfully and properly, for the 
Teason that there is no history more interesting than that of the evolution of 
the newspaper, and no consummation of mental and physical energy that 
places the nineteenth century in more vivid contrast with preceding cen- 
turies. 




ALFRED TENNYSON. 



THE CENTURY'S LITERATURE 



219 




iikmiv \v. i.on<;keli,o\y. 



For the fatherhood of the newspaper we have to travel to a land and date 
calculated to rob modern civilization of some of its boastfulness. The oldest 
known newspaper is the '• Tsing-Pao," or "Peking News," mention of whose 
publication is made in Chinese annals as far back as a. d. 713, when it was 
then, as now, the official chronicler of 
the acts of the emperor, the doings of 
the court, and the reports of ministers. 
It has appeared daily for nearly four- 
teen hundred years, in the form of a yel- 
low-covered magazine, some of by 1\ 
inches in size. The pages number twenty- 
four, and are printed from wooden mov- 
able type. Two editions are published, 
one on superior paper, for the Court 
and upper classes ; the other on inferior 
paper, for general readers. Its editorship 
is in the Grand Council of State, which 
furnishes to scribes or reporters the news 
deemed fit for publication. As an offi- 
cial organ, it first finds circulation among 
the heads of provinces, and is by them 
further distributed to patrons. This 
ancient purveyor of news seems to have 
pretty fully gratified the Chinese taste 

for that kind of literature; for even at the present day there are few news- 
papers in the empire published in the native language. The few that have 
sprung up are confined to the larger cities, as Shanghai, Hongkong, and 
Peking, where they are liberally patronized. But their circulation and in- 
fluence do not extend far into the interior, owing to the lack of postal facil- 
ities. The modern Chinese newspaper can hardly be called a native enter- 
prise. It grew out of the necessity for a literature and a means of news 
communication which arose at the time the Chinese ports were forced open 
to the world's commerce. As a consequence, a majority of the Chinese pub- 
lications have found their inception in foreign brains and capital, and re- 
main under the management of foreigners. The same is true of Japan, 
where the modern native newspaper practically dates from the arrival of 
the foreigner. But by reason of their greater mental and commercial activ- 
ity, and the rapidity with which they adjusted themselves to modern modes 
of civilization, the Japanese have far outstripped the Chinese in their evolu- 
tion of newspaper literature and enterprise. Whereas, what may be called 
the first modern Japanese newspaper was founded in 1872, there sprang up in 
the following twenty years the almost incredible number of 648 newspapers 
and periodicals, not only due to native capital and enterprise, but under 
native control. This wonderful growth took place, too, in the face of the 
severest code of press laws existing in any country. 

In Europe, the earliest inklings of a newspaper literature consisted of news 
pamphlets of infrequent and uncertain publication, and dependent for circu- 
lation upon temporary demand. The earliest departure from this stage was 
in Germany, in 1615, when the " Frankfurter Journal " was organized as a 



220 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY' 

weekly publication, for the purpose of "collecting and circulating the news 
of the day." Antwerp followed with a similar enterprise in 1616. The first 
attempt to do likewise in Great Britain was in 1622, when " The Weekly 
News " was founded in London. None of these enterprises were by editors, 
in a modern sense, but by stationers, in the line of their ordinary trade. 
They did not depend for patronage on regular subscribers, but sold their pub- 
lications on the streets through the agency of hawkers, corresponding to 
our modern newsboys, though they bore the classical name of "mercuries." 

The foundation of the first newspaper in France that attained permanence 
and fame was in 1631. It was called the " Gazette de France," and owed its 
origin to a demand for mingled news and original discussion. It was largely 
under the control of Richelieu, and, of course, reflected his sentiments. In 
these beginnings of the newspaper, we find little or no attempt at journalism, 
as now understood and practiced; no promise and potency of a literature 
peculiar to newspaper enterprise. The journalist had yet to come into being. 
He first appeared as a writer of " news-letters," generally from some capital, 
or seat of legislation, or commercial centre. His duty was to keep a line of 
masters or patrons supplied with news during their absence from court, legis- 
lative hall, or business mart. His duty evolved into a calling. His patrons- 
became regular paying subscribers, to each of whom he wrote. These letters, 
coming from all countries of the continent of Europe, and covering a wide 
field of information, became of great interest, and many collections of them 
are still in existence in libraries, adding no little to their historic value. 

The step was easy from this journalistic stage to the regular periodic pub- 
lication, open not only to the " news-letter," but to discursive thought. Thus, 
in 1641, " The Weekly News," of London, began the publication of parlia- 
mentary proceedings in addition to its budget of " news-letters." This era 
witnessed a rapid establishment of weekly newspapers, requiring editorial 
supervision and regular contributions. They were not without their vicissi- 
tudes. Many of their careers were brief and marked with pecuniary losses ; 
yet out of the wreckage sprang some of the most important of the modern 
journals. 

By 1703 Great Britain was ripe for a daily newspaper, and in that year one 
appeared under the name of " The Daily Courant." The advent of this enter- 
prise gave further impetus to newspaper publication. The English press of 
the eighteenth century rose into great popular favor. It was able, and quite 
too independent for royalty and royal courtier. For corrupt and ambitious 
government it often became a whip of scorpions, and in revenge was both 
severely taxed and invidiously censored. But it seemed to prosper amid 
opposition and persecution, and by 1776 fifty-three newspapers were published 
in London alone. During the reign of George III. (1760-1820) the history of 
the English newspaper is one of criminal persecutions, amid which editors 
and contributors were repeatedly defeated, and sometimes severely punished ; 
yet it is doubtful if at any period the press gained greater strength from pro- 
tracted conflict, or turned ignominious penalties into more signal triumphs. 
It is significant that out of this dark, tumultuous, and forbidding era sprang 
many of the newspapers whose influence is most potential to-clay in English 
affairs of state and in the literature of journalism. The era marks the turn in 
newspaper values. The establishment became a concrete thing, a lively pro- 



THE CENTURY'S LITERATURE 221 

perty, an energy composed of practical business minds, surrounded and sup- 
ported by the best procurable literary talent, adapted for treating diversified 
topics. Thus " The London Morning Chronicle," founded in 1789, rose to be 
a property in 1823 which sold for $210,000 ; while " The Morning Post " not 
only gave to Coleridge his fame as one of the greatest of publicists, but en- 
listed the brilliant attainments of Mackintosh, Southey, Young, and Moore. 
The sturdy " London Times," which dates from 1785, and for years encoun- 
tered malignant royal hostility, proved itself strong enough to brave the 
government and at the same time sufficiently enterprising to introduce steam 
printing and every mechanism calculated to give it precedence as a metropol- 
itan journal. As a property, it is to-day worth a figure incredible at the 
beginning of the century, and so powerful was its hold on popular favor for 
the first half of the century that no other daily could compete with it. In- 
deed, it may be said to have had a lone field up to the establishment of 
" The Daily News," in 1846, " The Daily Telegraph," in 1855, and " The 
Standard," in 1857. 

The nineteenth century journalism of Great Britain is characterized by its 
great plenitude. Morning and evening papers abound in all the centres. 
The weekly paper is still an important literary and news factor. Class 
papers are numerous and excellent in their way. Again, the century's jour- 
nalism is characterized by its property value. Many of the leading English 
journals have become immense properties worth millions of dollars each, and 
requiring the ablest management to improve and perpetuate them. Further, 
the English press is characterized by able and conservative, if prosaic, edito- 
rial methods. Its correspondence is cautious, and covers every important 
field. Its news columns, so far as they depend on the telegraph and tele- 
phone, are sprightly and well filled, but limited and dull when the local 
reporter is the source of supply. 

As already stated, the annals of French journalism began with the found- 
ing of the " Gazette de France " in 1631. The evolution of the French news- 
paper was not rapid till the eighteenth century was well along, when the era 
of the first revolution called for a news and literature peculiar to bloody and 
exciting times. Myriads of newspapers sprang into existence, all but two of 
which found their graves with the passing of the emergency which called 
them into being. Early in the nineteenth century (1836) the introduction of 
cheap journalism gave great impetus to enterprise, and by the middle of the 
century the number and circulation of French newspapers had more than 
trebled. This rate has been, in great part, sustained throughout the latter 
half of the century, and the French people are to-day abundantly supplied 
with a newspaper literature which for vivacity and amplitude is unexcelled. 
It may not have the solid and lasting influence of the soberer outcrop of other 
nations, but it is singularly adapted to a sprightly and mercurial people, and 
is well sustentative of the great political transition of the people and empire 
since the beginning of the nineteenth century. 

The evolution of the newspaper in Germany was slow. Between 1615, 
the date of the founding of the " Frankfurter Journal," and 1798, when the 
" Allgemeine Zeitung " (General Xews) was founded by the bookseller Cotta, 
at Leipsic, no journals of a high order made their appearance, and it needed 
the inspiration of the French Revolution to beget in the German mind a 



222 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

desire for a livelier newspaper literature than had preexisted. Thus, the 
"Zeitung" soon sprang into great popularity as a purveyor of news and as 
a medium of discussion, and has ever since maintained a leading place in the 
German political press. It not only set the style of the press at the turn 
of the century, but proved to be a pioneer in that wonderful journalistic 
march which spread over all German-speaking countries during the nine- 
teenth century, giving to them media of news and discussion as able and 
influential as exist in any land. By 1870 there existed in Germany proper 
3780 newspapers and periodicals; in Austria-Hungary, 700 ; in Switzerland, 
300 ; not to mention the many hundreds printed in German in other coun- 
tries, especially in the United States. A proportionate increase would greatly 
augment the above figures by the end of the century. The rise of German 
socialism proved to be a prolific source of journalism. The socialist seems 
to be a born editor and literary combatant. He is also a great reader and 
bold and independent thinker. Under the socialistic demand for a literature 
peculiar to itself, there has arisen a score of German printing-offices and 
perhaps fifty political journals, a third of which are dailies. 

In the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark. Norway, Sweden, Russia, Italy, 
Spain, Portugal, and other European countries, the press of the nineteenth 
century has kept pace with the mental needs and spirit of enterprise of the 
respective peoples. Indeed, there is no such an accurate criterion of the gen- 
eral make-up of a people, of their place in the lines of progress, of their 
influence upon civilization, as that afforded by their press. The Belgian 
press is nimbly commercial, that of the Netherlands prosy and substantial, 
while that of the Scandinavian countries is rugged, accurate, and solemnly 
influential. The Russian press, where free, is despotic and unprogressive. 
But it is so frequently under censorship that it can hardly be said to reflect 
with any degree of certainty the popular spirit of the empire. The Italian 
press is indolent and easy-going, inaccurate, spicy by spasms, of little relative 
influence, except as it has been improved since the unification of the Italian 
States. Spain is a country of 18,000,000 people, but has fewer newspapers 
and periodicals than the single State of New York. Of Spain's 1200 papers., 
only 500 are newspapers. Of the rest, 300 are scientific journals, mostly 
monthly, 100 are devoted to religion, and 30 to satire, music, poetry, art, etc. 
Barcelona and Madrid are the great centres of journalistic literature. The 
political papers are the most powerful. The reading public of Spain is lim- 
ited, and the average circulation of a Spanish newspaper is only about 1200 
eopies. 

In the New World the demand for newspaper literature during the nine- 
teenth century has proven quite as strong as in the Old World, and, in certain 
localities, even stronger. Even among the youthful and tumultuous repub- 
lics of South America, with their large percentages of lower classes and 
illiterates, there are few centres of importance that do not support respect- 
able and fairly influential journals. The news-gathering and news-consuming 
spirit may not be so active as elsewhere, nor the commercial sense so acute, 
yet the century has laid the groundwork of journalistic enterprise so firmly 
that future years can afford to build upon it with certainty. The same may 
be said of journalism in Mexico and the other Latin republics of North 
America. 



THE CENTURY'S LITERATURE 



223 




BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 



In Canada, the century shows a highly complimentary growth in news- 
paper literature and influence. Great pride is taken in accurate and able 
editorship, and in that kind of management which is best calculated to con- 
vert investment into permanent and profitable property. What they lack 
on the reportorial, or strictly newsy, side, they make up in free, clean, and 
independent discussion. The people are 
readers and, therefore, generous sup- 
porters of the enterprises designed to 
supply them with their periodical liter- 
ature. During the century the news- 
papers and periodicals of Canada in- 
creased in number from a very few to 
862, as reported in 1894. Of these, 87 
are dailies, 583 weeklies, 138 month- 
lies, 3 tri-weeklies, 22 semi-weeklies, 6 
bi-weeklies, 21 semi-monthlies, 2 quar- 
terlies. The largest centres of circula- 
tion are the province of Ontario with 
507 newspapers and periodicals, and 
Quebec with 132. 

The century's grandest field for jour- 
nalistic opportunity has been the United 
States. Here journalism has developed 
with the greatest rapidity, exemplified 
its manifold features to the fullest ex- 
tent, most successfully proved its influence as an educative and civilizing 
agency. Starting with the great and essential encouragement of freedom, it 
has found unremitting and energetic propulsion in the unprecedented growth 
of population, in the marvelous activities requiring intercommunication of 
thought, in an intelligence which constantly recruited armies of omnivorous 
readers, and in facilities for the preparation and dissemination of the litera- 
ture at command. 

The beginning of newspaper enterprise in the United States was in 
Boston, in 1690, when the " Publick Occurrences " appeared under the au- 
spices of Benjamin Harris. It was designed to be a monthly, and was 
printed on three sides of a folded sheet, each side being only eleven inches 
long by seven wide. It was suppressed after its first issue by the colonial 
government of Massachusetts, thus restricting the avenues of news to the 
foreign journals or local coffee-houses. But the demand for home news 
was not thus to be crushed. There sprang up a medium of communication 
by news-letters, such as then existed in England ; and in 1704 the post- 
master of Boston undertook to keep certain functionaries informed of the 
course of events by a periodical news-letter in printed form. This he called 
" The News-Letter," a title which, with some, is treated as that of a news- 
paper. It was to appear weekly, and would be sent to subscribers for such 
reasonable sum as might be agreed upon. After a lapse of fifteen years. 
without competition, it had attained a subscription list of only three hundred 
copies. A subsequent postmaster started an opposition sheet in 1719. called 
"The Boston Gazette." Its appearance caused him to lose his office, In it 



224 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



the rival papers continued to exist, " The News-Letter " up to the evacua- 
tion of Boston by the British troops in 1776, and the " Gazette " up to 1754. 
" The Boston Gazette " appeared on December 21, 1719. One day after, 
December 22, 1719, Andrew Bradford started " Tlie American Weekly 
Mercury " at Philadelphia. On August 17, 1721, James Franklin started 
u The New England Courant," on which Benjamin Franklin learned the 
trade of printer. After an existence of seven years its publication ceased. 
On October 23, 1725, William Bradford started " The New York Gazette." 
" The New England Weekly Journal " succeeded " The Boston Gazette " and 
■" Courant " in 1727. " The Maryland Gazette," the first paper published 
in that colony, appeared in 1727. In 1728 Samuel Keimer started " The 
Universal Instructor in all the Arts and Sciences and Pennsylvania Ga- 
zette," at Philadelphia. The following year Benjamin Franklin bought 
Keimers plant, and shortened the name to " The Pennsylvania Gazette." 
The first paper in the colony of South Carolina, called " The South Carolina 
Gazette," was published on January 8, 1731. On November 5, 1733, " The 
New York Weekly Journal " appeared as a rival to the " Gazette." In 
1736 the first newspaper appeared in Virginia. It was published at 
Williamsburg, and was called " The Virginia Gazette." In 1739 a German 
newspaper appeared at Germantown, Pa., and another, in 1743, at Philadel- 
phia. All these pioneer papers, with the exception of a few, notably " The 

Pennsylvania Gazette " under Franklin, 
and " The New York Weekly Journal " 
under Zenger, were merely news pur- 
veyors, or, if any opinions were ex- 
pressed, they were in accord with the 
authorities of the day. 

After 1745 the press of the colonies 
became more independent and progres- 
sive, in obedience to a demand for liter- 
ature bearing upon the questions rela- 
ting to the coming revolution. New 
journals of the weekly class sprang up 
with considerable rapidity and, for the 
most part, in opposition to England's 
methods of colonial government. Among 
these were " The Boston Independent 
Advocate." started under the auspices of 
Samuel Adams, in 1748; "The New 
Hampshire Gazette," in 1756 ; " The 
Boston Gazette and Country Gentle- 
man." in 1755; the "Newport (R. I.) 
Mercury," in 1758 ; " The Connecticut Courant," in 1764. 

By 1775, the commencement of the struggle for independence, the colonial 
press numbered thirty publications, all weekly. Of these, seven were pub- 
lished in Massachusetts, one in New Hampshire, two in Rhode Island, three 
in Connecticut, eight in Pennsylvania, and three in New York. In the first 
year of the war eight new weeklies were added to the list, four of them 
being in Philadelphia. On December 3, 1777, the first newspaper, " The 




HORACE GTIETCT/TCY. 
Founder of "New York Tribune." 



THE CENTURY'S LITERATURE 



225 




JOHN W. FORNEY. 
Founder of "Philadelphia Press. 



Gazette," appeared in New Jersey, and in 1781, the first in Vermont, "The 
Gazette or Green Mountain Post Boy." Such was the fatality overhanging 
the colonial press that, of the sixty-three newspapers which had come into 
existence prior to 1783, only forty-three survived at that date. 

From 1789, the date on which the 
Constitution went into operation, till 
the close of the eighteenth century and 
early beginning of the nineteenth, sev- 
eral newspapers were founded, most of 
which were ardently political, and, 
though employing writers of ability, 
were bitterly vituperative. The most 
powerful of this class were " The Au- 
rora " of Philadelphia, Jefferson's lead- 
ing organ ; " The Evening Post " of New 
York, the organ of the Federalists ; and 
" The American Citizen " of New York, 
an organ of the Clintonian democracy. 
The close of the eighteenth century wit- 
nessed also the advent of the press in 
the Mississippi Valley. " The Centinel 
of the Northwestern Territory " was 
started at Cincinnati, November 9, 1793 ; 
and " The Scioto Gazette," at Chilli- 
cothe, in 1796. 

The press of the early part of the nineteenth century grew rapidly in 
number, circulation, and influence. While it was largely partisan, the field 
of discussion gradually broadened, and the news departments became more 
vivacious and comprehensive. Many of the newspapers founded during the 
first decades of the century exist at its close, having enjoyed their long 
careers of influence with honor, and become properties of incalculable 
value. During this period the transition from the weekly to the daily news- 
paper gradually went on in the large cities. The first American daily paper, 
" The American Daily Advertiser," was published at Philadelphia in 1784. 
With it came the first use of reporters, or regularly employed news- 
gatherers, an innovation as important to the public as the advent of the daily 
itself. Special, or class, newspapers also began to get a firm foothold 
during this period. "The Niles's Weekly Register " appeared in Baltimore 
in 1811. The first religious newspaper attempted in the United States 
appeared at Chillicothe, 0., 1814. The first of the agricultural press was 
" The American Farmer," which appeared at Baltimore, April 2, 1818, to be 
followed by " The Ploughman," at Albany, N. Y, in 1821, and by " The 
New England Farmer," in 1822. Several strictly commercial and financial 
papers found an origin in this period, the most successful of which was 
" The New Orleans Prices Current," established in 1822. 

During this period the newspaper, whether daily or weekly, was distributed 

only to the regular subscriber, — the price of a single copy on the street being 

prohibitory. The slow-going mail facilities of the time prevented the large 

circulations that are credited to modern journalism. Prior to 1833 no leading 

15 



226 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 




newspaper could throw sufficient enterprise into its business to raise its circula- 
tion above 5000 copies. This kept the price of advertising low, and consequently 
limited a source of profit which has since grown to enormous proportions. 

The period ended with the advent of the penny press, in New York, in 1833. 
The initial experiment in this line was made by H. D. Shepard with his 

" Morning Post," and it proved a fail- 
ure in the short period of three weeks. 
The next was " The Daily Sun," Sep- 
tember 23, 1833, claiming to be " writ- 
ten, edited, set up, and worked off " by 
Benjamin Franklin Day. It remained 
a penny paper for a long time and at- 
tained a large circulation. It was re- 
organized in 1867, when Charles A. 
Dana became its editor. Though the 
price was put up to two cents, it became 
under his control one of the most po- 
tential news and political factors of the 
century, and attained a circulation of 
over 100,000 copies daily. In May, 
1835, James Gordon Bennett followed 
in the tracks of Day with " The New 
York Herald." Its sprightly news col- 
umns and fantastic advertisements com- 
mended it to popular favor, and proved 
a source of great profit. It has since 
greatly varied its prices ; but by dint of 
stupendous, if peculiar, enterprise, it has grown into enormous circulation, 
and become a property worth millions. In 1841, Horace Greeley started 
"The New York Tribune," at first as a penny paper, though on an elevated 
plane. It soon grew into popular favor, and with its weekly and semi-weekly 
editions for country circulation became one of the most widely circulated 
and influential journals in the country. " The New York Times " also began 
as a penny paper in 1851, under the control of Henry J. Kaymond. 

While the era of a distinctive and popular penny press was short-lived, 
it witnessed one of the most notable advances of the century in journalism. 
It stimulated newspaper enterprise throughout the entire country, and jour- 
nals multiplied enormously. The era practically ended with the outbreak 
of the Civil War in 1861, which event caused a rise in the price of paper, 
a demand for expensive correspondence, telegraph news and battle scenes, 
and a consequent necessity for enlarged and quadrupled sheets. Many of 
the penny papers went up to a five-cent price under the stimulus of war 
excitement, the improved system of collecting news, and the added expense 
of publication. This era of phenomenal newspaper expansion extended even 
to the end of the century. It has witnessed the wonderful evolution of 
the newspaper in all its modern phases, — the advent of the Sunday news- 
paper ; the growth of the daily sheet to mammoth proportions ; the incor- 
poration of the Associated Press, with its thousands of agents in every 
part of the country gathering and sending the minutest events of the day ; 



JOSEPH MEDILI>. 
"Chicago Tribune." 




RECORD BUILDING, PHILADELPHIA. 



228 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

correspondence from every quarter of the globe, and covering every field 
of activity ; a highly improved and more independent editorship ; a greatly 
enlarged, more active, and more conscientious reportorial staff ; the coming 
of the interviewer, at first an impertinent pest, but now recognized as a 
valuable journalistic adjunct in reflecting opinions and sentiments not other- 
wise obtainable ; the employment of the thousand and one new appliances 
for printing, such as stereotyping, electrotyping, improved types, typesetting 
machines, rapid presses, folding machines, etc. 

By 1883 a reaction came on in the prices of leading journals, and they 
were forced to reduce them by reason of the strong competition offered by 
the numerous and powerful two-cent journals which had come into being 
and had proven to be valuable properties. Indeed, this reaction did not 
leave the two-cent journals untouched, for it brought many of that class 
to a one-cent basis, with the claim that a consequently increased circula- 
tion would enhance the profits from advertising. This claim is a debatable 
one, and it may be safely said that most of the newspapers established near 
the end of the century have adopted a two-cent basis as a golden mean 
between the one-cent and three-cent journals. 

Proportionally speaking, the growth of the press in the United States 
has been as even as it has been rapid. No leading city is without press 
establishments and prominent journals, some of them conducted on the 
largest scales of expenditure, — the West vying with the East, and the 
South with the North, in liberality and enterprise. The newspaper office 
of the early part of the century was generally dingy and cramped. The 
abode of many, especially in the larger cities, has become a handsome pile, 
conspicuous in architectural effects, capacious and cleanly, — fitting hive for 
the myriad of workers that toil at midday and midnight in pursuit of the 
" art preservative." The annual expenditure of a single newspaper operated 
on a large scale has been thus computed : Editorial and literary matter, 
$220,000 ; local news, $290,000 ; illustrations, $180,000 ; correspondence, 
$125,000 ; telegraph, $65,000 ; cable, $27,000 ; mechanical, $410,500 ; paper, 
$617,000 ; business office, $219,000 ; a total of $2,153,500. 

Nearly every town in the United States of 15,000 population has come by 
the end of the century to have its daily newspaper, and few of even 1000 pop- 
ulation, especially if a county-seat, are without their weekly newspapers. 
It has become possible to conduct a rural weekly of fair proportions and with 
quite readable matter upon a very economic basis, by means of a central office 
in some large city. This office prints and supplies to the rural offices, of 
which it may have hundreds on its list, the two outside pages of a weekly, 
leaving to the local office only the duty of supplying and printing on the 
inside pages its domestic news. 

In the number of its newspapers and periodicals the United States easily 
leads the world. Only approximate figures for the close of the century are 
at hand ; but these, for the United States, gravitate around a total of 20,000 
newspapers and periodicals, while those for other countries which report are 
as follows : Great Britain, 4229 ; France, 4100 ; Germany, 5500 ; Austria- 
Hungary, 3500 ; Italy, 1400 ; Spain, 1200 ; Russia, 800 ; Switzerland, 450 ; 
Belgium, 300 ; Holland, 300 ; Canada, 862. In the report of 1894 for United 
States newspapers and periodicals, the following subdivision appears : Dailies, 



THE CENTURY'S LITERATURE 229 

1853 ; tri-weeklies, 29 ; semi-weeklies, 223 ; weeklies, 14,077 ; bi-weeklies, 62 ; 
serai-monthlies, 290 ; monthlies, 2501 ; bi-monthlies, 70 ; quarterlies, 197. 
The States in which over one thousand newspapers and periodicals are printed 
are, New York, with 2001 ; Illinois, with 1520 ; Pennsylvania, with 1408 ; 
Ohio, with 1108. The States next in order, and with a number of newspapers 
and periodicals between 500 and 1000, are, Iowa, with 978 ; Missouri, with 
907 ; Indiana, with 753 ; Kansas, with 732 ; Michigan, with 727 ; Massachu- 
setts, with 664 ; Texas, with 656 ; Nebraska, with 639 ; California, with 637 ; 
Wisconsin, with 551 ; Minnesota, with 549. 

The century's newspaper literature in the United States has been further 
characterized by the introduction of the comic feature. The comic newspaper 
came into being about the middle of the century, but did not strike a practical 
minded people with favor. It was not until the century was well rounded 
out that the cartoonist's and joker's art came into sufficient demand to make 
a comic newspaper a commercial success. Even now their number is limited 
to a very few that can boast of permanent success. 

The daily newspapers of the latter part of the century have not been dis- 
suaded by earlier attempts to make illustrations a conspicuous feature. On 
the contrary, newspaper illustration has grown to the proportions of a special 
art, and all of the larger and better equipped dailies have organized depart- 
ments into which are gathered photographs and engravings ready for repro- 
duction as events demand. So the correspondent and reporter have added to 
knighthood of the pen that of the camera, and the scenic view has become an 
essential part of serious correspondence and sprightly reporting. 

An immense, imposing, and highly useful current of literature flows 
through the magazines, which have, by their number, beauty, and adaptation, 
come to be a distinguishing feature of the nineteenth century. This class of 
literature is usually called " Periodical," and it embraces the magazines and 
reviews devoted to general literature and science, the class magazines devoted 
to particular branches of science, art, or industry, and the publications of 
schools and societies. Most periodicals published in the English language 
are monthlies. The same is true of those published on the continent of 
Europe, save that there the old-fashioned quarterly style is still much 
affected. 

Periodical literature found a beginning in France as early as 1665, in 
what is still the organ of the French Academy. The first English periodical 
was published in 1680, and was hardly more than a catalogue of books. The 
growth of the periodical or magazine proved to be ver} r slow. Up to 1800, not 
more than eighty had found mentionable existence as scientific and technical 
periodicals, and only three as strictly literary periodicals. The advent of " The 
Edinburgh Eeview," in 1802, gave great impetus to periodical literature in 
Great Britain, and the period from 1840 to 1850 was one of special develop- 
ment, but to be surpassed by that of 1860 to 1870, when the shilling magazine 
came into vogue. This class of literature also developed very rapidly in 
France during the century, Paris having 1381 periodicals of all kinds by 1890. 
There was an equally rapid development in Germany, Austria, and through- 
out the continent. 

The English magazine found several imitators in the United States during 
the latter part of the eighteenth century, most of which had brief existences. 



230 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

Such was the fatality overhanging this class of enterprise, that until 1810 
but twenty-seven periodicals could be counted in the United States. While 
the next forty years were marked by several magazine successes, such as the 
"Knickerbocker," "Graham's Magazine," and "Putnam's Monthly," they 
were, nevertheless, strewn with long lines of melancholy wreckage. Indeed, 
it was not until the middle of the century that the demand for magazine liter- 
ature became sufficiently intense to make investment in it profitable and per- 
manent. Since then the development has been almost phenomenal, keeping 
even pace with that of the newspaper. At the end of the century the number 
of monthlies published in the United States approximates 2800 ; and there 
are over 300 fortnightlies, 56 bi-monthlies, and 192 quarterlies. These cover 
the vast domains of general literature, religion, science, art, and industry, and 
in many respects vie with the newspaper in popularity and influence. Many 
of them have developed into magnificent properties, whose value would appear 
"incomprehensible to our grandfathers. They employ excellent talent when 
special topics are treated, and rise to occasions of war or other excitement 
through graphically written and highly illustrated articles. Indeed, one of 
their most impressive features is the high degree to which they have carried 
the art of illustration. Toward the close of the century, periodical literature 
has been greatly expanded and popularized by the introduction of the cheap 
magazine. The older and more dignified periodicals had not thought of per- 
manent and profitable existence at a price less than twenty-five to fifty cents 
a copy ; but those of the younger and ten-cent class, by dint of what seems to 
be a newly discovered enterprise, have found cheapness no barrier to commer- 
cial success. Within a decade they have duplicated patrons of magazine liter- 
ature by the million, and proven quite as clearly as the newspapers have done 
that we are a nation of readers. 



THE RECORDS OF THE PAST 

By MORRIS JASTROW, JR., PH.D., 

Professor of Semitic Languages, University of Pennsylvania. 

The present century has so many distinguishing features that it is a haz- 
ardous undertaking to summarize its achievements. All branches of science 
— Philology, History, Mathematics, Medicine, Theology, and Philosophy — 
have felt the stimulating influence of a new spirit that made its appearance 
after the French Kevolution. New methods of investigation have not only 
led to profound modification of views in all departments of science, but have 
brought about considerable additions to the sum of human knowledge. In the 
domain of natural science, the discovery of new principles and of hitherto 
unknown forces has widened the horizon of humanity and created new men- 
tal disciplines ; but while perhaps less conspicuous, because not so directly con- 
nected with the actual concerns and needs of the present, the fertility of his- 
torical research during this century is not less remarkable. The larger area 
now embraced under the caption " history of mankind " furnishes the best 
proof for the success that has signalized the labors of scholars — philologists, 
historians, and explorers — devoted to the study of the past. Ancient history 
no longer begins with the Greeks or the Hebrews. Its certain limits have 
been removed to as remote a date as 3000 b. c, while the anthropologist, 
supplementing the work of the historian, has furnished a picture in detail of 
the life led by man in various quarters of the globe during that indefinite 
period which preceded the rise of culture in the true sense of the word. This 
extension of knowledge in the domain of human history is primarily due to 
the spade of the explorer, though it required the patience and ingenuity of 
the philologist and archaeologist to interpret the material furnished in abun- 
dance by the soil that happily preserved the records of lost empires. Docu- 
ments in stone, clay, and papyrus have been brought forth from their long 
resting-places to testify to the antiquity and splendor of human culture. By 
the side of written records, monuments of early civilization have been dug 
up, palaces, forts, and temples filled with works of art and skill, to confirm 
by their testimony the story preserved by those who belonged to the age of 
which they wrote. 

Researches in Mesopotamia. — The archaeological researches conducted 
during this century have definitely established the fact that the earliest 
civilizations flourished in the Valley of the Euphrates and in the district 
of the Nile. Until the beginning of this century, Egypt, Babylonia, and 
Assyria were little more than names. The spirit of skepticism which 
accompanies the keen desire for investigation led scholars to question the 
tales found in classical writers of the great achievements of the Babylonians 
and Egyptians. At the beginning of this century scarcely a vestige remained 
of the cities of ancient Mesopotamia. The site of Nineveh was unknown, and 
that of Babylon was in dispute. A profound sensation was created when, in 
1842, P. E. Botta, the French Consul at Mosul, discovered the remains of a 



232 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 



palace beneath a mound at Khorsabad, some miles to the north of Mosul on 
the east bank of the Tigris. Botta's discovery marked the beginning of an 
activity and exploration in Mesopotamia which continues to the present day. 

At first the excavations were confined to the 
mounds in the north, in which the palaces of 
the great Assyrian kings, Sargon, Esarhad- 
don, Sennacharib and Asurbanibal (or Sar- 
danapalus as he was called by Greek writers) 
were unearthed, as well as the great sacred 
edifices that formed one of the glories of an- 
cient Assyria. The buildings exhumed abound 
in long series of sculptured slabs, on which 
are depicted incidents in the campaigns of the 
kings and in their private life. Historical 
records on stone and clay furnished the needed 
details in illustration of the scenes, and lastly, 
literary remains in profusion were found, 
which revealed the intellectual life and reli- 
gious aspirations of the masses and of the sec- 
ular and religious leaders. To England and 
France belongs the glory of these early explo- 
rations. Through Botta and Sir Austen Henry 
Layard, the aucient cities of Nineveh, Calah, 
and Ashur, were rediscovered. But as the 
field of activity extended to the mounds in the 
south, in the Valley of the Euphrates, other 
countries, notably Germany and the United 
States, joined in the work. The excavation 
of the remains of the city of Babylon were 
first conducted by Sir Henry Rawlinson in 
1854, and much work was afterward done 
by Hormuzd Rassam; but the most notable 
achievements of recent years are the excava- 
tions conducted by DeSarzec, under the aus- 
pices of the French Government, at Telloh, 
from 1881 to 1895, and those of the Univer- 
sity of Pennsylvania at Nippur, begun in 
1888, and which are still going on. 

Through these excavations the history of 
Babylonia has been carried back to the fourth 
millenium b. c, and while there are still some 
important gaps to be filled out, the course of 
events in Babylonia and Assyria from this 
remote period down to the year 587 b. c, when 
Cyrus the Mede established a new empire on 
the ruins of Babylonia and Assyria, is tolerably 
clear. Hand in hand with the excavations has gone the decipherment of the 
inscriptions found in such abundance beneath the mounds. On clay, stone, 
and metals, rulers inscribed records of their reigns ; and added to pictorial 




THE "BLACK OBELISK" OF SUA I. 
MANESER II., KING OF ASSYRIA. 
B. C. 860-824. 



(British Museum.) 




THE 'MOABtTE STONE." ABOUT B. 
(Paris, Museum of the Louvre.) 
Monument dedicated to the god Kemosh by Mesha, king of Moab (2 Kings 3 :4ff.), to record his 
victory over the Israelites in the days of Ahab, and the restoration of cities and other works which 
he undertook by command of his god. The stone, which measures 3 ft. 10 in. X 2 ft. X U\ in., and 
contains 34 line's of inscription in the so-called Phenician character, was found at Diban (the Biblical 
Dibon, Num. 21:30; 32:34, etc.), in the land of Moab, by the German, Rev. F. Klein, in 1868. 
Unfortunately, soon afterward it was broken in pieces by the Arabs, but about two thirds of the 
fragments we're recovered by the Frenchman, Clermont-Ganneau, and it is possible to give a nearly 
complete text of the inscription from the paper impression which was taken before the stone was 
broken. 



THE RECORDS OF THE PAST 233 

illustrations accounts of their achievements in war as well as in the internal 
improvements of their empires. Clay, so readily furnished by the soil, became 
the ordinary writing material both in Babylonia and in Assyria, and in the 
course of time an extensive library, embracing hymns and prayers, omens and 
portents, epics, myths, legends, and creation stories, arose. In every impor- 
tant centre there gathered around the temples bodies of priests devoted to the 
preservation and the extension of this literature. Assyrian culture being but 
an offshoot of the civilization in the south, Assyria reaped the benefit of 
the literary work accomplished by the scribes of Babylonia, and the most 
extensive collection of the literary remains of Babylonia has come to us from 
a library collected through the exertions of Asurbanibal, and discovered in 
1849 by Layard in the ruins of that king's palace at Nineveh. 

The basis for the decipherment of the cuneiform inscriptions, as they are 
called from the wedge-shaped characters, was laid by George F. Grotefend 
early in this century, whose system was further worked out with great 
ingenuity by Edward Hincks, Jules Oppert, and Sir Henry Rawlinson. These 
pioneers have been succeeded by a large coterie of scholars in all parts of the 
world, who are still busy studying the large amount of material now forth- 
coming for the elucidation of the past. Not merely have we learned much of 
the public and official events and religious ideas and customs during the 
period covered by the Babylonian and Assyrian Empires, but through 
thousands of little clay tablets that formed the legal and commercial archives 
deposited for safe keeping in the temples, an insight into the life of the 
people has been obtained, of their occupation, of their business enterprise and 
commercial methods, and of many phases of social life, such as the position 
of women and slaves, of the manner in which marriages were contracted and 
wills drawn up. Perhaps the most characteristic feature of the remarkable 
civilization that arose in the Valley of the Euphrates is the domination of the 
priesthood over all except the purely political interests of the people. Thus 
the priests, as scribes, as judges, as astronomers, as physicians, brought that 
civilization to its high degree of excellence, while under their guidance, 
likewise, the religion of the country developed from a crude nature worship 
to an approach to a monotheistic conception of the universe. The heir of 
the Babylono-Assyrian empire was Persia, which, from the days of Cyrus till 
the advent of Alexander, swayed the fortunes of the ancient world. In all 
that pertains to art and architecture, Persia remained largely dependent upon 
Babylonia. Extensive excavations conducted at Susa by Dieulafoy, about ten 
years ago, and quite recently continued by M. de Morgan, have proved most 
successful in revealing the general nature and interior decoration of the 
great royal palace at that place. In brilliant coloring of the brick tiles which, 
as in Babylonia, formed the common building material, the Persians passed 
beyond the Babylonians and Assyrians. One of the most interesting rooms 
in the Louvre at Paris is that devoted to the exhibition of the colored wall 
decorations from the palace at Susa, representing such various designs as a 
procession of archers and a series of lions. The columns still standing at 
Persepolis have loug been famous ; and it is here likewise that the first 
cuneiform inscriptions were found which, couched in Persian, Median, and 
Assyrian, formed the point of departure for the decipherment of cuneiform 
scripts. 



234 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

Egyptian Researches. — The civilization of Egypt rivals in age and 
grandeur that of Babylonia and Assyria. Here, witnesses to the past that 
survived in the shape of obelisks and pyramids gave scholars in this century 
a good start in the work of unraveling the fascinating narrative of Egyptian 
history. Notwithstanding this, our present knowledge of the history is due 
largely to the remarkable series of excavations which have been conducted 
in Upper and Lower Egypt since the early decades of this century, and 
which continue with unabated activity at the present time. The stimulus to 
Egyptian research was given by Napoleon in 1798, who, when setting out 
upon his Egyptian expedition, added to his staff a band of scholars entrusted 
with the task of studying and preparing for publication the remains of 
antiquity. The result was a monumental work that forms the foundation of 
modern Egyptological studies. Another direct outcome of the expedition 
was the discovery of the famous Rosetta stone, in 1799, which, containing 
a hieroglyphic inscription accompanied by a Greek translation, served as 
the basis for a trustworthy system of decipherment of the ancient language 
of the Nile. The Frenchman, Jean Francois Champollion, and the English- 
man, Dr. Thomas Young, share the honor of having found the key that 
unlocked the mystery of the hieroglyphic script. As in the case of 
Babylonian archaeology, so here, excavations and decipherment went hand in 
hand. A few years after the advent of Botta at Mosul, Mariette inaugurated 
in Egypt a series of brilliant excavations under the auspices of the French 
government. About the same time the German government sent Bit-hard 
Lepsius on an expedition to Egypt, which resulted in the establishment of a 
large Egyptian Museum at Berlin. In 1883 England entered the field through 
the formation of the Egyptian Exploration Fund, and since that time a large 
number of cities in Lower Egypt, in the Fayum district, and in Upper Egypt 
have been unearthed. Year after year W. Flinders Petrie, Edouard Naville, 
F. L. Griffith, and others have gone to Egypt and returned richly laden with 
material that has found its way to the Museum at Ghizeh, to the British 
Museum, to Boston, to New York, and to the Museum of the University of 
Pennsylvania.. The activity of the French was continued after the death 
of Mariette, through Gaston Maspero, E. Grebaut, J. DeMorgan and E. 
Amelineau, so that the mass of material at present available for Egyptologists 
is exceedingly large. 

The cities of Memphis and Thebes have naturally come in for a large share 
of these excavations. Through the texts discovered within the pyramids at 
Thebes and the surrounding district, the history of the early dynasties was 
for the first time revealed. At Balas and Nagadah, a short distance to the 
north of Memphis, the excavations have brought us face to face with the 
indigenous population of the Nile that maintained its primitive customs long 
after those who founded the real Egyptian Empire had established themselves 
in the country. In the district of the Fayum, notably around Arsinoe, at 
Hawara, Illahun, and Gurob. traces of early foreign influence — Phoenician 
and Greek — were discovered, while in Lower Egypt the towns of Naukratis 
and Tanis represent extensive Greek settlements made in Egypt as early, 
at least, as the seventh century b. c. Through the magnificent illustrations 
in the tombs of Beni-Hassan, which have recently been carefully copied by 
English artists, almost all phases of ancient Egyptian life have been revealed. 



236 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

Though dating from the eleventh and twelfth dynasties, the picture that they 
afford applies to earlier and later periods as well. Thus, through the work 
done in all parts of the ancient empire, the links uniting the earliest period 
to the sway of the Ptolomies and the invasion of the Romans have been 
determined. Wonderful chapters, replete witli interest, have been added to 
the history of mankind, and though much remains to be done, we are much 
nearer to a solution than ever before of that most important problem as to the 
origin of the mysterious Egyptian culture. We know for a certainty that 
when the Egyptians came to the region of the Nile, they found a fertile 
district populated by a people, or by groups of people, that had already made 
some progress on the road to civilization, though not yet knowing the use 
of metals. The Asiatic origin of the Egyptians is regarded as clearly estab- 
lished by so eminent an archaeologist as M. DeMorgan, though it is likely 
that his views will be somewhat modified by further research. The infu- 
sion of Greek ideas, we now know, begins at a much earlier age than was 
formerly supposed, so that it becomes less of a surprise to find, even before 
the advent of Alexander, considerable portions of Egypt absorbed by foreign 
settlers. 

A noteworthy feature of archaeological work in Egypt during the past 
decade has been the discovery of a vast amount of papyri containing long 
lost portions of Greek literature. The famous work of Aristotle on the 
Constitution of Athens and the poems of Bacchylides may be mentioned as the 
most notable among these discoveries, and the sources from whence these 
treasures have come seem still far from being exhausted. 

Greek Ruins. — The mention of Greek literature leads one naturally to 
speak of the work done in this century in that land which stands so much 
nearer to us and to modern culture in general than either Babylonia or Egypt. 
While, thanks to the activity and industry of Greek and Roman historians, 
the records of the inspiring history of the Greek states during their most 
glorious epoch are well preserved, the earlier periods were enveloped in doubt 
and obscurity, while of the remains of Greece, of her beautiful temples and 
her famous works of art, comparatively few vestiges remained above the soil. 

The most notable of these were the Parthenon and the Erechtheum, with 
their works of art, that stood on the Acropolis, and it is precisely here that 
some of the most remarkable archaeological discoveries of the century were 
made. The Parthenon dates from that glorious period in the histoiy of 
Athens which follows in the wake of disasters in the fifth century, when 
the Persians entered the city and laid waste its beauties. The earlier Athens, 
which reached its zenith in the days of Pisistratus, has been brought to light 
through the excavations conducted by the Greeks themselves. In 1882 a 
systematic excavation of the Acropolis, under the auspices of the Greek 
Archaeological Society, was begun. The foundations of the ancient Temple of 
Athena that stood close to the modern Parthenon were discovered, and 
numerous works of art, statues, fragments, pediments, bases and vases, dating 
from the earlier period, by means of which we are enabled to trace the 
development of Athenian sculpture from the rough beginnings to the 
perfection that it reached in the days of Phidias. The style of these earlier 
works differs totally from that which we had hitherto been accustomed to 
regard as the type of Athenian art, and yet even the rudest of the earlier 



THE RECORDS OF THE PAST 237 

statues possess already some of that charm which is so strongly felt in the 
works of the later period. Most remarkable, perhaps, among the remains of 
the earlier Athenians are a large series of figures that appear to have been set 
up in rows within the Temple of Athena. It is through these figures, dating 
from various periods, that we are best able to trace the evolution of Greek 
art. They are unquestionably votive offerings, the gift of faithful followers 
of Athena, and, while intended probably as representations of the goddess 
herself, but little care was taken to give the goddess those accompaniments 
in dress and ornament which are never absent in the best specimens of the 
later period. As a result of these excavations on the Acropolis, aided by the 
investigations of numerous scholars, among whom Ernst Curtius and William 
Doerpfeld merit special mention, the entire plan of the little sacred city that 
stood on the Acropolis can now be traced in detail. The construction of the 
beautiful Propylasa by Mnesicles, of which remains are still to be seen, has 
been determined, and various temples to Athena, worshiped under the 
different guises that she assumed, have been discovered. The place where 
the great bronze statue of Athena, one of the master works of Phidias, stood, 
has been fixed, and through the inscriptions found on the Acropolis, numerous 
problems of Greek history have been solved. Every one knows the story of 
the Elgin marbles that once formed the decoration of the friezes of the 
Parthenon, and which in the early part of this century were brought to 
London by Lord Elgin. That act, though frequently denounced as a piece of 
vandalism, has probably done more to arouse an interest in Greek archaeology 
throughout Europe than anything else. Even the indignation which Lord 
Elgin's act provoked has served a good purpose, not only in leading Greece to 
take better care of her great treasures, but in inducing scholars of England, 
France, Germany, and the United States to establish, in Athens, architectural 
schools where young archaeologists may be trained, and where expeditions 
can be organized for the systematic investigation of the numerous cities of 
ancient Greece and the surrounding islands. The most important work done 
through these schools is the excavation of Olympia by the Germans, and of 
Delos and of Delphi by the French, while only some degrees less noticeable is 
the work done by a zealous Greek, M. Carpanos, at Dodona, by the Greek 
Society at Eleusis, Epidaurus, and Tanagra, and by the American School at 
Eretria and at Argos. At Olympia the discovery of the great Temple to 
Zeus, the grand theatre in which the famous games took place, the numerous 
shrines erected in honor of various deities that belong to the court of Zeus, 
and of hundreds of votive inscriptions commemorating the victors in the 
games, have enabled scholars to restore for us the ancient glories of the 
place, and to trace the history of the sacred city through its period of glory 
to its decline and fall. The master work of antiquity, the golden statue of 
Zeus made by Phidias, is, alas ! forever lost, but it was at Olympia that 
the Germans found the wonderful statue of Hermes by Praxiteles, a find that 
in itself was worth the million marks spent by the German government as a 
tribute to ancient Greece. At Delos and Delphi, the careful work done by 
the French has added to our material for tracing the course of Greek religion . 
Next to Olympia there is, perhaps, no place in ancient Greece which had such 
a strange hold upon the people as the seat of the great oracle at the foot of 
Mount Parnassus. The work at Delphi is still progressing, but enough has 



238 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

been found to justify the great reputation of this religious centre in ancient 
times. We can now traverse once again the sacred way leading past 
numerous buildings to the great shrine of Apollo, and to the cave from which 
the Pythian priestess obtained her inspiration. Fewer works of art have 
been discovered here than in Olympia, though perhaps the soil still harbors 
treasures which the coming years may reveal. 

The worship of Demeter and the nature of the Eleusinian mysteries are 
much clearer since the successful excavations that were conducted at Eleusis. 
Tanagra is of interest because of the clay figurines, the manufacture of 
which was one of the specialties of ancient Boeotia. Those figures, prepared 
partly from religious motives, partly as a tribute to the dead, are valuable as 
illustrations of popular customs. Great credit is due to the American school 
for the thorough manner in which excavations have been conducted by it, and 
while the results are not as striking as in some other places, so fundamental 
a problem as the arrangement of the Greek theatre, which has been engaging 
the attention of archaeologists for the past decade, has been brought nearer to 
its solution through excavations at Eretria. At Argos a head of Hera was 
discovered, which is now famous as one of the best specimens of the 
Polycletan school. 

No sketch of Greek archaeology, however brief, would be complete without 
mention of a man who exhibited singular devotion and rare enthusiasm for 
the study of the past. Heinrich Schliemann, by dint of individual effort, laid 
bare the remains of pre-Grecian civilization at Mycenae and Tiryns, and, 
prompted by a theory which for a long time provoked naught but ridicule, 
devoted many years and a large fortune to excavations at Hissarlik, on the 
coast of Asia Minor, which, he believed, was the scene of the Trojan War. 
At the latter place no less than nine cities, erected one above the ruins of the 
other, have been found, but the theory of Schliemann which identified the 
second layer with ancient Troy, afterward known to the Greeks as Ilium, has 
been shown to be false. It is the sixth layer that represents the ruins of 
Homer's Troy. At the same time, it must be remembered that the Homeric 
poems, while based upon historic events, are not history, and the attempt to 
test their supposed historical accuracy by the results of excavations is now 
regarded by Greek students as futile and unscientific. But this view in no 
way diminishes the credit due to Schliemann, who not only did more to stir 
up popular interest in ancient Greece than any other man living, but has illu- 
minated the early chapters of Greek history which were almost unknown to 
the scholars of this century. It now appears that Phoenician traders, settling 
on the coast of Asia Minor and in districts adjacent to the islands of the 
yEgean sea and harbors, which furnished a refuge for their ships, gave the 
first impulse to Greek art, and, although they were outdistanced by their apt 
pupils, the traces of Phoenician influence remain in Greek architecture, and 
more particularly in Greek cults, down to the latest times. Apart from the 
direct bearings of the excavations conducted in various parts of Greece upon 
the development of Greek art, the most important results of the work consist 
in the vast increase of material for Greek history, which is now being 
rewritten on the basis of the many thousands of inscriptions that have been 
found in the great centres of ancient Greece. As the work of excavation 
continues, each year brings its quota of new facts, and it is safe to predict 



THE RECORDS OF THE PAST 



239 



that the recovery of ancient Greece will be noted in future ages as one of the 
most notable achievements of the nineteenth century. 

Phoenician Ruins. — With Egypt, Babylonia, and Greece we are still far 
from having exhausted the field covered by archaeology in this century. At 
Cyprus much has been done by Lohr, Cesnola, and Ohnefalsch-Richter. The 




< © 

PS CO 



cities of Cyprus are interesting as forming a meeting-ground for such various 
civilizations as Phoenician, Egyptian, Proto-Grecian, and to a limited extent 
Babylono -Assyrian. The result is a curious mixture of art and of equally 
strange syncretism in religious rites. It is one of the disappointments of 
scholars that we as yet know so little of the Phoenicians who played such an 
important role in history. The traces of this people of wanderers and 



240 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

merchants have been found in tombs and votive inscriptions throughout the 
lands bordering on the Mediterranean, in Northern Africa, in Southern Spain, 
in Sicily, Malta, Asia Minor, Cyprus, Crete, Italy, and even Southern France ; 
but in Phoenicia itself but few inscriptions have been unearthed, and only 
scanty remains of the important cities of Sidon and Tyre, which once 
flourished on the coast of the Mediterranean. The fate of these cities, 
subjected in the course of centuries to so many different powers, is a sad 
one. Almost everything that belonged to a high antiquity has disappeared, 
and such scanty excavations as have been undertaken, the most notable of 
which is that of Um-el-Awamid by the late Ernest Kenan, in 18C1, have been 
of little value. Tombs have been discovered, but only few of them belong to 
the Phoenician period in the proper sense. The Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar, 
king of Sidon, with a long Phoenician inscription, is however a most notable 
monument and of great historical importance. But the most remarkable find 
within the limits of ancient Phoenicia was made a few years ago by Hamdi 
Bey under the auspices of the Turkish government. In the necropolis at 
Sidon a series of sarcophagi were unearthed which, belonging to the Greek 
period, are valuable as furnishing a specimen of the art of Greece transplanted 
in foreign soil. 

Kesearches in Palestine. — Ancient Palestine, likewise, so full of sacred 
recollections for millions, has been chary of yielding up the treasures which 
there is every reason to believe still lie somewhere beneath the soil. In 1870, 
a stone was found in the land of Moab which commemorated the victory of 
King Mesha over Israel, about 850 b. c, and forms one of the most valuable 
monuments for tracing the history of the Phoenician alphabet, of which the 
one we use is a direct successor. At Jerusalem a single inscription, belonging 
probably to the age of Hezekiah, was found by accident at the pool of Siloam. 
This paucity of archaeological returns is not due to any lack of interest in 
recovering the monuments of ancient Palestine. In Germany and England, 
societies for the exploration of Palestine have been in existence for the past 
twenty years, and much important work has been done by them in making 
careful surveys of the country, in identifying ancient sites, and in adding 
material to our knowledge of the geography of the country. The combined 
opposition of fanatical Turks, Arabs, Christians, and Jews has prevented, 
until recently, the undertaking of excavations in the important centres of the 
country, such as Jerusalem, Samaria, Bethlehem, Hebron, and the like. A 
few years ago the mound Tel-ehHesy, covering the site of the ancient city of 
Lachish, was thoroughly explored by F. J. Bliss, and no less than ten layers 
of cities identified by him ; but the results, except for some pottery and a 
most important discovery of a cuneiform tablet which belongs to the El- 
Amarna series and dates from the fifteenth century b. c, have been rather 
disappointing. Recently Mr. Bliss has succeeded in obtaining permission to 
undertake excavations at Jerusalem. He has begun his work by tracing 
carefully the walls of the ancient city, but until this work is pushed to the 
extent of actually digging down some forty feet below the level of the present 
Jerusalem, it is not likely that significant discoveries will be made. There 
are good reasons for hoping that the time is not far distant when systematic 
work, such as has been done in Egypt, Babylonia, and Greece, will also be 
undertaken in Palestine. When that time does come, we may expect that 



THE RECORDS OF THE PAST 



241 



many of the problems besetting students of the Old and New Testaments 
will find their solution. 

Hittite Remains. — Archaeology does not only solve problems, but 
frequently raises new ones. Such a new problem is that of the Hittites. 
During the past fifteen years, a large series of monuments, many of them 
sculptured on rocks, have been found in various parts of Asia Minor, from 
the district of Lake Van almost to the Mediterranean coast, and notably at 




Front View. 




Rear View. 

CUNEIFORM LETTER FROM LACHISH, PALESTINE. ABOUT B. O.. 1400. 

(Imperial Ottoman Museum, Constantinople.) 
16 



242 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 



Hamath, on the Orontes. They all betray the same art, and are accompanied 
by inscriptions in characters to which the name Hittite has been given. It is 
to be borne in mind that this term Hittite is to a large extent a conventional 
one, covering a series of peoples that may have belonged to different races. 
We hear of these Hittites in the Asiatic campaigns of Egyptian kings from 
the seventeenth century b. c. down to 1400 b. c. Establishing an empire on 
the Orontes, they gave the Assyrians a great deal of trouble, and it was not 
until the end of the eighth century that they were finally conquered. Though 




ARCH OF TITUS, ROME. 



we know a good deal of the history of these Hittites from the records of 
Eg} r ptians, Babylonians, and Assyrians, their origin remains wrapped in 
obscurity. The Hittite characters have not yet been deciphered, although 
various attempts of interpreters have been made. The last of these is that 
of Professor Peter Jensen, of the University of Marburg, who believes that 
the Hittite language is a prototype of the modern Armenian. Although a 
number of prominent scholars have acknowledged their acceptance of the 
Jensen system, it cannot be said as yet to have been definitely established, 
nor is it likely that a satisfactory key will be found until a large bilingual 
inscription containing a record in Hittite characters with a translation, 




HITTITE INSCRIPTION FROM .TERABIS. 



244 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

perhaps, in Assyrian or Aramaic, shall have been found. Such a find may be 
expected at any moment. Meanwhile, it may be said that from an 
ethnological point of view, it seems more plausible to regard the Hittites as a 
part of the Turanian stock rather than belonging to the Aryan or Semitic 
races. The exploration of India, China, and Japan can scarcely be said to 
have more than begun. The notable series of inscriptions that recall the 
period of Indian history connected with Acoka may be regarded as a 
specimen of what we may expect when once those distant lands are as 
thoroughly explored as the countries situated around the Mediterranean sea. 
Roman Ruins. — Coming to the last and greatest of the empires of antiquity, 
Rome, a word should be said .about the activity that has characterized the 
excavations at Herculaneum and Pompeii, and recently in the city of Rome, 
which are carried on so successfully by Rudolfo Lanciani. While our knowledge 
of Roman history has always been much more complete than that of Greece, 
still many questions of detail have only recently been settled through these 
excavations. An insight has been afforded into the public and private life of 
the Romans which supplements that which was to be gained from the study 
of the classical writers. Europe and America have also been seized with the 
archaeological fever. In Germany, Austria, France, Sweden, Denmark, 
Holland, Switzerland, North America, and South America, the knowledge of 
the past has been extended through exploration and excavation. So large is 
the field of archaeology at present, that it is impossible for one person to 
make himself familiar with more than a small section ; but, on the other 
hand, so close is the sympathy between the various branches of mankind 
scattered throughout the world that there is no work carried on in one 
division of archaeology which has not its bearings upon many others. What 
Goethe said of human life may be said of archaeology : " Wo ihr's packt, da 
ist's interessant." 



PROGRESS IN DAIRY FARMING 

By MAJOR HENRY E. ALVORD, C.E., LL.D., 
Chief of Dairy Division, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 

Nearly all industries have their branches or specialties. Farming is no 
exception, and one of the most interesting, highly developed, and remunera- 
tive of its branches is dairying. To be successful, dairying requires good 
judgment, knowledge of the relations of modern science to agricultural pro- 
duction, constant study, system, and close attention to details. Hence it is 
regarded as among the highest forms of farming. The occupation is itself 
so stimulating and the rewards are so substantial, when brains and brawn are 
applied to it in judicious combination, that dairying districts are commonly 
conspicuous as the most enterprising, prosperous, and contented of the rural 
communities of their section of country. 

In all lines of farming at least one " money crop " seems to be the aim, 
although this term may include animals and animal products. A great dis- 
advantage in certain kinds of farming is that the returns come at long inter- 
vals, perhaps but once a year, while the expenses are continuous for twelve 
months. Dairying, as conducted by modern methods, distributes the farm 
income through the year; the cash returns are monthly, or oftener, the 
pernicious credit system disappears, money circulates, and at all seasons a 
healthy business activity prevails in the whole community. 

It is a noteworthy fact, that during periods of agricultural depression 
experienced in the United States during the nineteenth century, the products 
of the dairy have maintained relative values above all other farm products, 
and dairy districts seem to have passed through these periods with less 
distress than most others. 

The greater part of this country, geographically, being well adapted to 
dairying, this branch of agriculture has always been prominent in America, 
and its extension has kept pace with the opening and settlement of new 
territory. For many years a belief existed that successful dairying in the 
United States must be restricted to narrow geographical limits, constituting 
a " dairy belt " lying between the fortieth and forty-fifth degrees of latitude, 
and extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Missouri Eiver ; and the true 
dairying districts were felt to be in separated sections occupying not more 
than one third of the area of this belt. These ideas have been exploded. It 
has been shown that good butter and cheese can, by proper management, be 
made in almost all parts of North America. Generally speaking, good butter 
can be profitably produced wherever good beef can. Decided advantages 
unquestionably exist, in the climate, soil, water, and herbage of certain sec- 
tions ; but these influences are largely under control, and what is lacking in 
natural conditions can be supplied by tact and skill. So that, while dairying 
is intensified and constitutes the leading agricultural industry over wide 
areas, including whole States, where the natural advantages are greatest, the 
industry is found well established in spots in almost all parts of the country, 



246 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

and is developing in unexpected places, and under what might be considered 
as very unfavorable conditions. 

Dairying existed in colonial times in America, and butter and cheese are 
mentioned among the early exports from the settlements along the Atlantic 
coast. But this production was only incident to general farming. Dairying, 
as a specialty in the United States, did not appear to any extent until well 
along in the nineteenth century. The history of this industry in this coun- 
try is therefore identical with its progress in that century. This progress 
has been truly remarkable. The wide territorial extension, the immense 
investment in lands, buildings, animals, and equipment, the great improve- 
ment in dairy cattle, the acquisition and diffusion of knowledge as to economy 
of production, the revolution in methods and systems of manufacture, the 
general advance in quality of products, the wonderful increase in quantity, 
and the industrial and commercial importance of the industry, have kept pace 
with the general material progress of the nation and constitute one of its 
leading features. 

During the early part of the century, the keeping of cows on American 
farms was incident to the general work, the care of milk and the making 
of butter and cheese were in the hands of the women of the household, the 
methods and utensils were crude, the average quality of the products was 
inferior, and the supply of our domestic markets was unorganized and irregu- 
lar. The milch cows in use belonged to the mixed and indescribable herd of 
" native " cattle, with really good dairy animals appearing singly, almost by 
accident, or, at the best, in a family developed by some uncommonly discrimi- 
nating yet unscientific breeder. The cows calved almost universally in the 
spring, and were generally allowed to go dry in the autumn or early winter. 
Winter dairying was practically unknown. As a rule, excepting the pasture 
season, cattle were insufficiently, and therefore unprofitably, fed and poorly 
housed. In the Eastern and Northern States, the milk was usually set in 
small shallow earthen vessels or tin pans, for the cream to rise. Little atten- 
tion was paid to cooling the air in which it stood in summer, or to moderating 
it in winter, so long as freezing was prevented. The pans of milk oftener 
stood in pantries and cellars than in milk rooms specially constructed or pre- 
pared. In Pennsylvania and the States farther south, where spring-houses 
were in vogue, milk received better care, and setting it in earthen crocks or 
pots, standing in cool, flowing water, was a usual and excellent practice. 
Churning the entire milk was very common. Excepting the comparatively 
few instances where families were supplied with butter weekly, and occa- 
sionally a cheese, direct from the producers, the farm practice was to " pack " 
the butter in firkins, half-firkins, tubs, and jars, and let the cheese accumulate 
on the farms, taking these products to market only once or twice a year. 
Not only were there as many different lots and kinds of butter and cheese 
as there were producing farms, but the product of a single farm varied in 
character and quality, according to season and other circumstances. Every 
package had to be examined, graded, and sold upon its merits. Prices were 
low. 

These conditions continued, without material change, up to the middle of 
the century. Some improvement was noticeable in cattle and appliances, 
and in some sections dairy farming became a specialty. With the growth of 



248 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

towns and cities, the business of milk supply increased and better methods 
prevailed. Butter-making for home use and local trade, in a small way, was 
common wherever cows were kept, and in some places there was a surplus 
sufficient to be sent to the large markets. Vermont and New r York became 
known as butter producing States. " Franklin County butter," from counties 
of this name in New York, Vermont, and Massachusetts, was known through- 
out New England, and the fame of " Orange County " and " Goshen " butter, 
from New York, was still more extensive. New York, Ohio, and Northern 
Pennsylvania produced large quantities of cheese ; and the total supply was 
so much in excess of domestic demand, that cheese exports from the United 
States, mainly to Great Britain, became established, and ranged from three 
to seventeen million pounds a year. 

The twenty-five years following 1850 was a period of remarkable activity 
and progress in the dairy interests of the country. At first, the agricultural 
exhibitions or " cattle shows," and the enterprise of importers, turned atten- 
tion towards the improvement of farm animals, and breeds of cattle specially 
noted for dairy qualities were introduced and began to win the favor of 
dairymen. Then the early efforts at cooperative dairying were recognized 
as successful, and'were copied until the cheese factory became an established 
institution. Once fairly started, in the heart of the great cheese-making dis- 
trict of New York, the factory system spread with much rapidity. The 
" war period " lent additional impetus to the forward movement. The foreign 
demand for cheese grew fast, and the price, which was ten cents per pound 
and less in 1860, rose to fifteen cents in 1863, and to twenty cents and over 
in 1865. There were two cheese factories in Oneida County in 1854, and 
twenty-five in 1862. The system spread to Herkimer and adjoining counties, 
and in 1863 there were 100 factories in New York, besides some in Ohio and 
other States. The number increased to 300 in the whole country in 1865, 
to 600 in two years more, and to over 1000 in 1869. From that time the 
cooperative or factory system practically superseded the manufacture of 
cheese on farms. Establishments for the making of butter in quantity, from 
the milk or cream collected from numerous farms, soon followed the cheese 
factories. Such are properly butter factories, but the name of " creamery " 
has come into general use for an establishment of this kind, and seems 
unlikely to change. Placing the real beginning of cheese factories as a sys- 
tem of dairying in 1861 or 1862, the first creamery was started in 1864, in 
Orange County, New York. In Illinois, the first cheese factory was built in 
1863, and the first creamery in 1867 ; in Iowa, the respective dates were 1866 
and 1871. 

The effect of these industrial establishments, comparatively new in kind, 
is to transfer the making of butter and cheese from the farm to the factory. 
Originating in this country, although now extensively adopted in others, the 
general plan may be called the American system of associated dairying. The 
early cheese-factories and creameries were purely cooperative concerns, and 
it is in this form that the system has usually extended into new territory, 
whether for the production of butter or cheese. The cow owners and pro- 
ducers of milk cooperate and share, upon any agreed basis, in organizing, 
building (perhaps), equipping, and managing the factory and disposing of its 
products. Another plan is for the plant to be owned by a joint-stock com- 



PROGRESS IN DAIRY FARMING 249 

pany, composed largely, if not wholly, of farmers, and milk or cream is 
received from any satisfactory producer ; the factory may be allowed a cer- 
tain rate of interest on the investment, or may charge a fixed price per pound 
for making butter or cheese, and then divide the remaining proceeds pro rata 
according to the raw material supplied by its "patrons." The proprietary 
plan is also common, being managed much like any other factory, the pro- 
prietor or company buying the milk or cream from the producers, at prices 
mutually agreed upon from time to time. And all these plans have their 
variations and modifications in practice. 

The third quarter of a century was also a period of unprecedented pro- 




MODERN CREAMERY AND CHEESE FACTORY, WITH ICE-HOUSE, ETC. 

gress in the application of mechanics to the dairy. The factories and 
creameries required new equipment, adapted to manufacture upon an en- 
larged scale, and equal attention was paid to the improvement of appliances 
for farm dairies. The system for setting milk for creaming in deep cans 
in cold water — preferably ice-water — was introduced from Sweden, al- 
though the same principles had been in practice for generations in the 
spring-houses of the South. Numerous creaming appliances, or creamers, 
were invented, based upon this system. Shallow pans were changed in size 
and shape, and then almost disappeared. Butter workers of various models 
took the place of bowl and ladle and the use of the bare hand. Churns ap- 
peared, of all shapes, sizes, and kinds, the general movement being towards 
the abolition of dashers and the substitution of agitation of cream for 
violent beating. About this time the writer made a search of the United 



250 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

States Patent Office records, which revealed the fact that forty or fifty new 
or improved churns were claimed annually, and after rejecting about one 
fourth, the patents actually issued provided a new churn every fifteen days 
for more than seventy years. This illustrates the activity of invention in 
this line. It was admitted by all that at this period the United States was 
far in advance of any other country in the variety and excellence of its 
mechanical aids to dairying. 

The same period witnessed the organization of dairymen in voluntary 
associations for mutual beuefit in several States, the formation of clubs 
and societies of breeders of pure-bred cattle, and the appearance of the 
first American dairy literature of consequence in book form. The Ameri- 
can Dairymen's Association was organized in 1863. Its field of activity 
was east of Indiana, and accordingly the Northwestern Dairymen's Asso- 
ciation was formed in 1867. Both of these continued in existence, held 
periodical meetings, and published their proceedings for twelve or fifteen 
years. Then the formation of State dairy associations in Vermont (1870), 
Pennsylvania (1871), New York (1877), Wisconsin (1872), Illinois (1874), 
Iowa (1876), and other States took the place of the pioneer societies which 
covered wider territory. 

The Short-horn breed led in the introduction of improved cattle to the 
United States, and for a long time the representatives of this race, imported 
from England, embraced fine dairy animals. Short-horn grades formed the 
foundation, and a very good one, upon which many dairy herds were built up 
during the second and third quarters of the century, and much of this blood is 
still found in prosperous dairying districts. This was the period of greatest 
activity in importing improved cattle from abroad. But Short-horns have 
been so generally bred for beef qualities that the demand for them is almost 
exclusively on that line, and they are no longer classed as dairy cattle. 
Ayrshires from Scotland, Holstein-Friesians from North Holland, and Jer- 
seys and Guernseys from the Channel Islands, are the breeds recognized as of 
dairy excellence, and upon which the industry mainly depends for improve- 
ment of its milch cows. The first two named are noted for giving large quan- 
tities of milk of medium quality ; the other two breeds, both often miscalled 
" Alderney," give milk of exceeding richness, and are the favorites with 
butter makers. There are also the Brown Swiss and Simmenthal cattle from 
Switzerland, the Normandy breed from France, and lied Polled cattle from 
the south of England, which have dairy merit, but belong rather to what is 
called the " general purpose " class. Associations of persons interested in 
maintaining the purity of all the different breeds named have been formed 
since 1850, and they all record pedigrees and publish registers or herd-books. 
Pure-bred herds of some of these different breeds are owned in nearly all 
parts of the country, and half-breeds or higher grades are found wherever 
cows are kept for dairy purposes. The quality and production of the average 
dairy cow in America are thus being steadily advanced. 

The development of dairying in the United States during the closing 
decades of the nineteenth century has been uninterrupted, and marked by 
events of the greatest consequence in the entire history. The importance 
of two inventions during this period cannot be overestimated. The first is 
the application of centrifugal force to the separation of cream from milk. 



PROGRESS IN DAIRY FARMING 



251 



This is based upon the specific gravity of the milk serum or skim milk, and 
of whatever impure matter may have entered the milk, such gravity being 
greater than that of the fatty portion or cream. The dairy centrifuge, or 
cream separator, enables the creaming or "skimming" to be done immedi- 
ately after milking, preferably while the milk is still warm. The cream can 
be at once churned, while sweet ; but a better practice is to cure or " ripen" 
it for churning : this can be done at a comparatively high temperature, dis- 
pensing with the necessity of so much ice or cold water. The skim milk is 
available for use while still warm, quite sweet, and in its best condition for 
feeding to young animals. This mechanical method is more efficient, secur- 
ing more perfect cream separation than the old gravity system, and the dairy 




A TYPICAL DAIKT COW — AYRSHIRE. 



labor is very largely reduced. The handling and caring for the milk may be 
thus wholly removed from the duties of the household. A usual plan is to 
have a " skimming station," to which the milk is hauled at least daily from the 
producing farms in the vicinity, and where one or more separators are oper- 
ated by power. Separators are also made of sizes and patterns suited to farm 
use, where they may be operated by hand or by light power, — electricity, steam, 
water, a horse, a bull, a sheep, or a dog. Besides its economy and its effect 
upon labor, this machine almost eliminates the factor of climate in a large 
part of dairy management, and altogether has worked a revolution in the in- 
dustry. The centrifugal separator is still a marvel to those who see it work- 
ing for the first time : the whole milk, warm, flows into the centre of a strong 
steel bowl, held in an iron frame ; the bowl revolves at a rate of 1500 to 25,000 
times per minute, and from two projecting tubes cream and skim milk flow in 
continuous streams to separate receptacles. The machines can be regulated 



252 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

to produce cream of any desired thickness or quality. These separators, of 
different sizes, are capable of thus skimming or separating, or more properly, 
creaming, from 15 to 500 gallons of milk per hour. A machine of standard 
factory size has a speed of 6000 to 7000 revolutions a minute, and a capacity 
for separating 250 gallons of milk an hour. The world is indebted to Europe 
for this invention, at least as a dairy appliance. Yet investigations were in 
progress contemporaneously in this country along the same line, and many of 
the material improvements in the cream separator and several entirely new 
patterns have since been invented here. The first separators were put into 
practical use in this country and Great Britain in the year 1879. The 
century closes with 35,000 to 40,000 of these machines in operation in the 
United States. 

The second great dairy invention of the period is the fat-test for milk, — 
being a quick and easy substitute for chemical analysis. This is one of the 
public benefactions of the Agricultural Experiment Stations which, under 
State and national endowment, have been established during the last part f)f 
the century, so that there is now at least one in every State. A number of 
these have done much creditable work in dairy investigation, and from them 
have come several clever methods for testing the fat content of milk. The 
method which has been generally approved and is now almost universally 
adopted in this and other lands is named for its originator, Dr. S. M. Babcock, 
the able chemist and dairy investigator, first of the New York Station at 
Geneva and since of the Wisconsin Station at Madison. This tester combines 
the principle of centrifugal force with simple chemical action. The machine, 
on the Babcock plan, has been made in a great variety of patterns, simple and 
inexpensive for home use, more elaborate and substantial for factories. By 
them from two to forty samples of milk may be tested at once in a few mo- 
ments ; and by slight modifications in the appliances, the fat may be deter- 
mined in samples of milk, cream, skim-milk, or butter-milk. This fat test of 
milk has wide application, and is second only to the separator in advancing 
the economies of dairying. The percentage of fat being accepted as the mea- 
sure of value for milk for nearly all purposes, the Babcock test may be the 
basis for city milk inspection, for fixing the price of milk delivered to city 
dealers, to cheese factories and creameries, and for commercial settlements 
between patrons in cooperative dairying of any kind. By this test, also, 
the dairyman may prove the quality of milk from his different cows, and 
(with quantity of milk-yield recorded) may fix their respective value as 
dairy animals. With perfect apparatus in careful hands, the accuracy of the 
test is unquestioned, and it is of the highest scientific value. It should be 
noted that although clearly patentable, and offering an independence through 
a very small royalty, this priceless invention and boon to dairying was freely 
given to the public by Dr. Babcock. 

The advent of the twentieth century finds the dairy industry of the United 
States established upon a plane far above the simple and crude domestic art 
of three or four generations ago. The milch cow itself, upon which the whole 
business rests, is more of a machine than a natural product. The animal has 
been so bred and developed to a special purpose, that instead of the former 
short milking period, almost limited to the pasture season, it yields a compar- 
atively even flow of milk during ten or eleven months in every twelve ; and if 



254 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX 1 '" CENTURY 

desired, the herd produces as much in winter as in summer. It is not unusual 
for cows to give ten or twelve times their own weight of milk during a year. 
And the quality has been so improved that the milk of many a good dairy cow 
will produce as much butter in a week as could be made from three or four aver- 
age cows of the olden time. Instead of a few homely and inconvenient imple- 
ments for use in the laborious duties of the dairy, generally devolving upon 
the women of the farm, perfected appliances skillfully devised to accomplish 
their object and lighten labor are provided all along the way. The factory 
system of cooperative or concentrated manufacture has so far taken the place 
of home dairying, that in entire States the cheese vat or press is as rare as 
the hand-loom, and in many counties it is as hard to find a farm churn as a 
spinning-wheel. Long rows of shining tin pans are no longer seen adorning 




MILK TESTEK (OPEN). 



rural dooryards, as one drives along country roads ; but in their place may 
be found the bright faces of "the women-folks," who rejoice over the revolu- 
tion of modern dairying. 

Here is an example of this radical change in the system of making butter : 
Northern Vermont has always been a region of large butter production. St. 
Albans, in Franklin County, is the natural business centre. During the mid- 
dle of the century the country-made butter came to this town to market every 
Tuesday from miles around. The average weekly supply was 30 to 40 tons. 
This was very varied in quality, was sampled and classified with much labor 
and expense, placed in three grades — prime, fair, and poor — and forwarded 
to the Boston market, two hundred miles distant. During twenty-five years 
ending in 1875, 65,000,000 lbs., valued at $20,000,000, passed through this little 
town. All of this was dairy butter made upon a thousand or two different 
farms, in as many churns. In 1881, the first creamery was built in this 



256 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

county. Now, the Franklin County Creamery Company, located at St. Albans, 
has fifty-odd skimming stations distributed through this and adjoining coun- 
ties. To them is carried the milk from 30,000 cows or more, and the separated 
cream is sent by rail to the central factory, where from ten to twelve tons 
of butter are made every day. A single churning room for the whole county ! 
All of this butter is of standard quality, and sold on its reputation upon orders 
from distant points received in advance of its manufacture. The price is 
relatively higher than the average for the product of the same farms fifty 
years ago. 

In one respect dairy labor is the same as a hundred years ago. Cows still 
have to be milked by hand. Although numerous attempts have been made, 
and patent after patent issued, no mechanical contrivance has yet been a 
practical success as a substitute for the human hand in milking. Therefore, 
twice a day. every day in the year, the dairy cows must be milked. This is 
one of the main items of labor in the dairy, as well as a most delicate and 
important duty. Allowing ten cows per hour to a milker, — which is pretty 
lively work, — it requires the continuous labor of an army of 300,000 men, 
working ten or twelve hours a day throughout the year, to milk the cows of 
the United States. 

The industry is becoming thoroughly organized. Besides local clubs, soci- 
ties, and unions, there are dairy associations in thirty States, most of them 
incorporated and receiving financial aid under State laws. In some States, 
the butter makers and cheese makers are separately organized. Sixteen States 
provide by law for officials known as Dairy Commissioners or Dairy and Food 
Commissions. These officers have a national association, and there are also 
two national organizations of dairymen. At various large markets and centres 
of activity in the commerce of the dairy, there are special boards of trade. 
The United States Department of Agriculture has a Dairy Division, intended 
to watch over and promote the dairy interests of the country at large. Dairy 
schools are maintained in several States, offering special courses of practical 
and scientific instruction in all branches of the business. These schools and 
the agricultural experiment stations, with which most of them are closely 
connected, are doing much original research and adding to the store of useful 
information as to the applications of modern science to the improvement of 
dairy methods and results. Weekly and monthly journals, in the interest of 
dairy production and trade, are published in various parts of the country. 
And during the last decade or two a number of noteworthy books on different 
aspects of dairying have been published, so that the student of this subject 
may fill a good-sized case with substantial volumes, technical and practical in 
character. 

The business of producing milk for town and city supply, with the accom- 
panying agencies for transportation and distribution, has grown to immense 
proportions. In many places the milk trade is regulated and supervised by 
excellent municipal ordinances, which have done much to prevent adulteration 
and improve the average quality of the supply. Full as much is being done 
by private enterprise, through large milk companies, well organized and 
equipped, and establishments which make a specialty of serving milk and 
cream of fixed quality and exceptional purity. This branch of dairying is 
advancing very fast, and upon the substantial basis of care, cleanliness, and 
improved -sanitary conditions. 



PROGRESS IN DAIRY FARMING 



257 



Cheese-making has been transferred bodily from the realm of domestic arts 
to that of manufactures. Farm-made cheeses are hard to find anywhere are 
used only locally, and make no impression upon the markets. In the middle 
of the century about 100,000,000 pounds of cheese were made yearly in the 
United States, all of it on farms. At the close of the century the annual 
production of the country is about 300,000,000 pounds, and 96 or 97 per cent 
of this is made in factories. Of these establishments there are some 3000, 
varying greatly in capacity. New York and .Wisconsin each have over a 
thousand ; the former State makes nearly twice as much cheese as the latter, 
and the two together produce three fourths of the entire output of this coun- 
try. The other cheese-making States, in the order of quantity produced, are 
Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, and Pennsylvania ; but all are comparatively unim- 




P.UTTEKMAKING — THE NEW WAY. 



portant. More than nine tenths of all made is of the familiar standard vari- 
ety copied after the English Cheddar, but new kinds and imitations of foreign 
varieties are increasing. The cheese made in the country, with the .small 
importations added, gives an allowance of less than four pounds a year to 
every person ; but as thirty to fifty million pounds are still annually exported, 
the per capita consumption of cheese in the United States does not exceed 
three and a half pounds. This is a very low rate, much less than in most 
European countries. 

Great as has been the growth of the factory system of butter-making, and 
fast as creameries are multiplying, especially in the newer and growing agri- 
cultural States, such as Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, and South Dakota, there 
is still much more butter made on farms in the United States than in cream- 
eries. Creamery butter controls all the large markets, the dairy product 
17 



258 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

making comparatively little impression on the trade. But home consumption 
and the supply of small customers and local markets make an immense aggre- 
gate, being fully two thirds of all. Estimating the annual butter product of 
the country at 1,400,000,000 pounds, not much over 400,000,000 of this is 
made in the 8000 or 9000 creameries now in operation. Iowa is the greatest 
butter producing State, and the one in which the greatest proportion is made 
on the factory plan. This State has 850 creameries, only three counties being 
without them ; about two fifths are cooperative. In these creameries about 
90,000,000 pounds of butter are made annually from 750,000 cows. It is esti- 
mated that in the same State 50,000,000 pounds of butter in addition are made 
in farm dairies. The total butter product of the State is therefore one tenth 
of all made in the Union. Iowa sends over 80,000,000 pounds of butter every 
year to other States. New York is next in importance as a butter-making 
State, and then come Pennsylvania, Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, 
and Kansas. Yet all these combined make but little more than half of the 
annual butter crop of the United States, and in no one of them, except Iowa, 
is half of the butter produced made in creameries. The average quality 
of butter in America has materially improved since the introduction of the 
creamery system and the use of modern appliances. No butter is imported, 
and the quantity exported is as yet insignificant. Consequently the home 
consumption must be at the yearly rate of twenty pounds the person, or 
about one hundred lbs. annually to the family of average size. If approxi- 
mately correct, this shows Americans to be the greatest butter-eating people 
of the world. 

And the people of this country also consume millions of pounds every year 
of butter substitutes and imitations, known as oleomargarine, butterine, etc. 
Most of this is believed to be butter by those who use it, and the State Dairy 
Commissioners mentioned are largely occupied in the execution of laws in- 
tended to protect consumers from these butter frauds. 

The cows in the United States were not counted until 1840, but they have 
been enumerated for every decennial census since. It has required from 23 
to 27 cows to every 100 of the inhabitants to keep the country supplied with 
milk, butter, and cheese, and provide for the export of dairy products. The 
export trade has fluctuated much, but has never exceeded the product of half 
a million cows. With the closing years of the century, it is estimated that 
there is one milch cow in the United States to every four persons. This 
makes the total number of cows about 17,500,000. They are quite unevenly 
distributed over the country, being largely concentrated in the great dairy 
States. Thus Iowa leads with a million and a half cows, followed by New 
York with almost as many, and then Illinois and Pennsylvania with about a 
million each. The States having over half a million each are Wisconsin, 
Ohio, Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Indiana. Texas is credited 
with 700,000, but very few of them are dairy animals. In the Middle and 
Eastern States the milk product goes very largely to the supply of the numer- 
ous cities and large towns. In the Central West and Northwest butter is the 
principal dairy product. It is estimated that the dairy animals of the United 
States include nearly half a million which are pure bred, and that this blood 
has been so generally diffused that more than one fourth of the cattle are 
grades. 




THE DAIRY MAID. 



260 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 



The following table gives approximately an exhibit of the quantity and 
value of the dairy products of the United States in the year 1900 : — 



Cows, 
Millions. 


Product. 


Rate of 
Product. 


Total Product. 


Rate of 
Value. 


Total Value, 
Dollars. 


11 

1 

5 1-2 


Butter 

Cheese 
Milk 


130 lbs. 
300 lbs. 
380 gals. 


1,430,000,000 lbs. 

300,000,000 lbs. 

2,090,000,000 gals. 


18 cents 
8 cents 
8 cents 


257,400,000 

24,000,000 

167,200,000 



This gives the grand total of the dairy products of the country a value of 
$448,(300,000. If to this be added the skim milk, buttermilk, and whey, at 
their proper feeding value, and the calves dropped yearly, the annual aggre- 
gate value of the produce of the dairy cows exceeds $500,000,000. This may 
be accepted as a conservative estimate. 

In a classification of the various annual farm products of the country by 
values, meats and closely related products stand first in order, the corn crop 
second, dairy products and the hay crop alternate in the third and fourth 
places, and wheat occupies the fifth. Hay and corn are so largely and 
directly tributary to the dairy as raw materials for its support, that it is fair 
to place the products of the dairy as second only to meat products in the gen- 
eral list. The cotton crop of the country is considered one of great import- 
ance, but during recent years it rarely equals the butter crop in value. The 
dairy aggregate exceeds all the mining products of the United States other 
than coal, oil, and gas. There never has been a year when the entire gold 
and silver product of the world was enough to buy the annual dairy products 
of this country at the present time. These comparisons show the commercial 
importance which the dairying of America has assumed. It is a branch of 
farming of such magnitude as to command attention and justify all reasonable 
provisions to guard its interests. 



THE CENTURY'S MORAL PROGRESS 

By SARA Y. STEVENSON, Sc. D., 

Secretary Department of Archaeology, University of Pennsylvania. 

In dealing with a subject so indefinite in its limits as the progress of morals 
in the nineteenth century, it may be well to establish by a brief survey of 
previous facts some solid basis upon which to rest the discussion. 

The notion of Duty or of moral obligation — i. e., of well-doing viewed in 
the abstract and outside of expediency — does not appear to have been brought 
forward by the Greek philosophers, to whom is mainly due the origin of our 
own conceptions with regard to morality. 

Even Plato, who dealt with nearly all duties, while insisting especially upon 
the negative duty of committing no injustice or evil, even against one's foes, 
nowhere systematically treats of Duty. Indeed, the Greek equivalent for the 
word did not exist in his time, and the notion was conveyed by a periphrase. 

That morals have a bearing upon the welfare and character not only of the 
individual and of the family, but of the whole body politic, was however 
early recognized. Theognis, for instance, who lived in the sixth century 
b. c, stigmatized in the most energetic terms the evil influence exercised 
upon the destiny of nations by the immorality of the upper classes. 

In the earlier schemes of civilization, where worship played a dominant 
political role, morals were regarded as under the protection of the sacred law. 
Worship and law were closely united in the government, and morals were 
included in these and governed by motives of expediency. 

Man's obligation to the Deity was then mainly confined to material offer- 
ings and propitiatory rites, whilst the law dealt with conduct in so far as 
order must be enforced, authority respected, and certain mutual rights recog- 
nized, if the welfare of the nation was to be maintained. 

That the moral standards of these early societies were high cannot be 
doubted. Those which prevailed in ancient Egypt, as preserved to us in the 
maxims of sages, as well as in certain chapters of the sacred books, prove 
that the rule of conduct which was to insure to the subjects of the Pharaohs 
respect and popularity in this world and happiness in the world to come was 
in no way inferior to our own. The men who taught their contemporaries 
" Do not save thy life at the cost of another " had little to learn from the 
high-bred Parisians who recently escaped unhurt from the burning walls of 
the French Charity Bazaar. 

For the Greek thinkers, however, who first systematically dealt with the 
subject, Ethics was a branch of Politics, i. e., the Science of Government. 
Aristotle, like Socrates and Plato, took for the starting point of his argument 
the sovereign good, or the idea of absolute well-being. All that man under- 
takes has an aim which, under analysis, is found to be the greatest advantage 
to him who is acting. Accordingly all knowledge tends to this end ; and as 
all its elements are more or less connected, there must be one, the final end of 
which is essential ; this is the political science which aims at the highest 
well-being not only of each man, but of man collectively, i. e., of society. 



262 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

The nature of this highest " well-being," which is generally termed 
"happiness," gave rise among Greek philosophers to discussions which have 
been revived by modern thinkers. 

It may therefore be stated that in ancient thought, at least until the time 
of the Stoics, morals and virtue were studied, whether in connection with 
religion or with politics, under the light of expediency rather than under that 
of abstract right, and that " they were discussed as functions more than as 
moral obligations." 

The fullness of significance which at present is conveyed in the word 
" Duty" is mainly due to the gradual and complex development of religious, 
legal, and philosophical modes of thought, in which certain human acts are 
regarded as enjoined and others as forbidden by a higher power, and in which 
conscience enters as an important and ever increasing factor. A sense of 
duty is the legitimate product of human nature under cultivation. But 
although we should look in vain among the ancients for the abstract notions 
which the words " Conscience, Duty, and Eight " evoke in the modern mind, 
we find in groping our way up the stream of time that germs of these con- 
cepts had long lain concealed in the precepts of ancient moralists. The fact 
of virtue existed long before it was made the subject of theoretical systems, 
and if with the development of the reasoning faculty our moral code has been 
elaborated and our ethical terminology enriched, broadly speaking, the rules 
of conduct laid down by civilized men in the remote past and those which 
govern us to-day are, in kind, virtually the same. Thou shalt not kill ; Thou 
shalt not steal ; Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife ; Thou shalt not 
bear false witness, are coeval with the beginnings of communities. It is in 
the scope and degree of their application — not in their nature — that mainly 
lies the difference existing in this respect between the past and the present. 

In the highest stage of our moral development the unselfishness which 
seeks gratification in the welfare of others and in duty accomplished, at the 
cost of self, may in final analysis be reduced to a refined egoism. The motive 
held up to man by most moralists is still expediency. The reward, whether 
it is promised on this earth or in the world to come, is still a reward, and to 
the " greatest advantage of him who is acting." 

Moreover, moral standards to-day, as in the past, have a strong bearing upon 
political government, and it is in studying the development of democratic 
ideas that we may best follow the evolution of modern ethics as characteristic 
of our epoch ; for to this development is due a higher sense of justice, the 
recognition of the rights of men and of the unimportance of the ego as com- 
pared with the race, all of which form distinctive features of the modern 
creed for which the words " altruism " and " humanitarianism " have been 
coined. It may also be said, to the honor of the present century, that there 
exists a growing tendency to accept abstract truth and right outside of 
expediency as standards of conduct, and to apply these regardless of sex, 
class, or persons according to the inflexible logic of a trained reason. 

Two thousand years ago Christianity established itself upon the wreck of 
ancient civilizations, preserving that which in them was immortal. Grafted 
upon the Roman world, the gospel of democracy which it preached could be 
accepted as the official religion of the Empire only at the cost of its own 
purity. How could God and Mammon rule together ? How could a Con- 



THE CENTURY'S MORAL PROGRESS 263 

stautine rise to an understanding of the Teacher who said : " Ye know that 
they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over 
them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. . . . But so shall it 
not be among you ; but whosoever will be great among you shall be your 
minister ; and whosoever of you will be the chiefest shall be servant of all." 
(St. Mark x. 42-44.) Christ had established religion among his followers 
as distinct from worship. The people soon relapsed into worship, whilst for 
the clergy theology took the place of religion. 

With the alliance formed between Church and State in the Christian com- 
munity, much of the Sermon on the Mount was necessarily forgotten ; many 
of the parables in which the Teacher embodied his doctrine of justice, of 
tolerance, of love and humility, were to lose their living force. Under the 
banner of faith, conduct sank to the second rank. The dry subtleties of 
scholasticism helped to crush morality beneath the words and formulae of a 
learned dialectic. Although for centuries the spirit of Christ continued to 
protect the weak and the lowly, although from the very body of the Church, 
then ever ready in its arrogance to cast its anathemas upon every effort of 
man to assert his freedom, sprang reformers who endeavored to restore to the 
gospel some of its early significance, the Church strayed ever farther from 
its founder. Was this because, as Michelet said, the reformers themselves 
needed reforming ? Once more man found himself crushed under the law 
which Christ had declared was made for him, until, at last, in the forcible 
words of Mr. Darmesteter, of all the Teacher's lessons Christian Rome seemed 
to remember only one, " Return unto Caesar that which is Caesar's." How- 
ever fiercely monarchy might struggle against the temporal encroachments 
of the Church, it joined with it to repress the people. " Authority rested 
upon a mystery. Its right came from above. Power was divine. Obedience 
to it was a sacred duty and inquiry became a blasphemy." 

Then from the great schools and universities the developing intellect of 
Europe awakened to a sense of its rights. Suddenly there came inquiries 
into the reality of this spiritual power over human souls and over the human 
understanding which Rome claimed to be derived from Heaven. In its 
revolt against dogma, from Abelard and Arnold di Brescia to Huss and 
Wickliff, from Luther and Pascal to Voltaire and Rousseau, the human 
thought struggled for freedom under the banner of learning and of reason, 
and fought for the rights of the people against the privileged few. " I will 
not speak of tolerance," cried Mirabeau, in his plea for the emancipation of 
the Jews in the National Convention (1791) ; " the freedom of conscience is a 
right so sacred that even the name of tolerance involves a species of tyranny." 

At the close of the last century, freedom at last planted its standard in 
Europe above the ruins of despotism. In the fiery torrent which swept away 
the ancient traditions of the Church, as well as those of the State, it seemed 
for a time as though religion as well as the church, right as well as might, 
must disappear from the surface of the earth* and that, in the smoke of 
battles a,nd the revelry of reason, truth and morals must perish and anarchy 
prevail. But a moral ride is indispensable to society, and " Religion is after 
all but the highest expression of human science and of human conscience." 
Its germ, innate in man, grows with his understanding in its constant strain 
to establish a relation between himself and the universe. 



264 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

To the moral chaos that for a brief space followed the overthrow of the old 
order of things succeeded, in the beginning of this century, a period of read- 
justment, and now, in the words of a poet whose own mental processes are 
a type of those of his time, " Of a hopeless epoch is born a fearless age." 

After the absolute negations of the early years of the nineteenth century, 
after the violent controversies not only of arrogant science and of prejudiced 
faith, but of scientific and theological schools inter se which fill the serious 
literature of the last generations, a reconciliation between faith and science is 
taking place, a certain unity of thought is being reached with regard to con- 
duct and to the rights of men. And the century, at its close, shows us the 
Protestant churchman less tenacious of his dogma, the Romanist less certain 
of the infallibility of Rome, the scholar less convinced of the infallibility of 
his science, the agnostic less boastful of his skepticism, the monarchist 
awakened from his dreams of a divine right of kings and of a preordained 
subjection of men, the socialist sobered of his revolutionary frenzy and 
repudiating the extremes of anarchy and nihilism born of his earlier teach- 
ings, all marching shoulder to shoulder under the banner of a broad tolerance 
toward a common goal, in a united effort to lift the masses from the depths of 
poverty, ignorance, vice, and often crime, to which centuries of repression 
seemed to consign them, and seeking in friendly cooperation to bring about 
a better social order. 

For in our time has taken place a great broadening of the moral standpoint 
from which the old rules of conduct are in future to be applied. Toward the 
end of the last century the equality and fraternity of men was proclaimed to 
the European world and received a baptism of blood. This official declaration 
of the rights of men professed to be universal ; but, like other dispensations 
that had preceded it, in its application it fell short of the democratic ideal. 
All men were declared equal, yet with striking inconsistency those who pro- 
claimed the new creed held others in bondage, and race disqualification 
survived. 

The honor of leading in the greatest moral reform which the world has 
seen is due to the French Revolutionary leaders. On February 2, 1794, the 
Convention decreed the abolition of slavery throughout the French colonies, 
and all slaves were admitted to the rights of citizenship. It was only in 1833 
that slavery was abolished in the British colonies by Act of Parliament, and 
that coolie labor was substituted. In 1861 Emperor Alexander II., following 
the policy inaugurated by his father, Nicholas I., freed the serfs in Russia. 
It is a curious fact that the United States, which for many reasons might 
have been expected to lead in the movement, only followed in 1863. The 
terrible struggle of the public conscience against expediency and class 
interest, which then took place upon this continent, must form one of the 
most important lessons which this century will offer to posterity. 

Right prevailed, and with this triumph of justice the human conscience, 
throwing aside casuistry and evasion for a time, faced its problems honestly 
and asserted its own sovereignty. 

The consequences of the mighty struggle did not stop here. Once the 
principles of abstract justice established, not only against might but against 
tradition and expediency ; once the rights not only of men (as in 1776 and in 
1789), but of all men, recognized in a broader application of the principles of 



THE CENTURY'S MORAL PROGRESS 



265 




CZAR ALEXANDER IT. OP RUSSIA. 



a true democracy, there came a tendency to extend its application to mankind 
at large ; and women, who according to their station in life had hitherto 
been dealt with theoretically as either useful or ornamental possessions, 
began to find their place as members of the community. The rights of slaves 
as men had been officially proclaimed. 
The rights of women as citizens began 
to be discussed. 

In the widespread shifting of levels 
which has taken place in the last hun- 
dred years, affecting directly and indi- 
rectly the moral progress of all classes 
of society, certain important elements 
have entered which cannot be over- 
looked in the present discussion, and 
which in future ages must stand as pre- 
eminently characteristic of the nine- 
teenth century and the Anglo-Saxon 
ascendency. 

The reign of machinery in the in- 
dustrial world, the advent of steam, of 
electricity, of compressed air, as mo- 
tors, have done away with the human 
machine. Whether in peace or in war 
the skilled workman has crowded him 

out. Labor-saving inventions have done away with the necessity for a 
multiplicity of hands. The need to-day is for trained heads. Prom evapo- 
rated fruit and canned meats to heat, light, and inter-communication, science 
is brought to bear upon every detail of existence. As an immediate con- 
sequence of the part necessarily played by learning in our industrial and 
commercial life under modern conditions, public education has become the 
mainspring of national prosperity. Freedom and public education have made 
our laboring classes the self-respecting, thinking people they are. The 
human automaton upon which formerly played the greed, the vice, the craft 
of others now holds a comparatively small place in the modern community, 
outside of Latin Europe. The "vile multitude," as M. Thiers still stig- 
matized it (before he turned republican), no longer exists. The world has 
moved, and so have men. 

" If the shuttle would weave of itself," said Aristotle in his apology for 
slavery, " there would be no need of slaves." The miracle, which seemed 
impossible to the founder of science, has been accomplished with the pre- 
dicted result. The shuttle weaves of itself and slavery has disappeared. 

Even in Oriental lands, under Anglo-Saxon supremacy the carrying out of 
great public works is stimulating a demand for education among the people, 
and the sum total of ignorance and poverty is gradually decreasing and 
making way for better conditions ; for only a trained hand guided by a 
trained intellect can use the modern tools. This applies to agriculture as well 
as to industries. 

In the rising tide of intellectual and material progress, woman has been 
carried along to a great extent unconsciously. It is a matter of grave doubt 



266 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 




whether the early " suffragists " did more than be the first to recognize and 
herald the logical drift of contemporary events. It is through higher edu- 
cation that woman has quietly forged her way to the place she occupies in 
the modern community, and that she is claiming her share of the common 
heritage of freedom and independence. The prophecy embodied in Bulwer's 
" Coming Race " is being realized. From year to year her sphere is broaden- 
ing. She is fast becoming self-support- 
ing. In education she already holds 
a leading place. Her influence as a 
moving force is becoming patent. It is 
officially recognized to a varying degree 
ill certain parts of the civilized world, 
— England, New Zealand, Russia, and 
twenty-two of the United States, where 
she stands before the law not only in 
her relation to man as his mother, wife, 
or sister, but in a direct relation to soci- 
ety, as a reasoning being and as a citi- 
zen. 

The increased self-respect born in wo- 
man's mind of a consciousness of equal 
training and culture, the growing num- 
ber of women whose ambitions have 
been stimulated to higher achievement, 
and the consequent increasing influence 
wielded by them in the community, 
suggest the thought that in time their legal status will be generally estab- 
lished, as it already is now in several localities. 

Much leveling has taken place since the abolition of the " ancient regime," 
not only in the relations of the various classes composing society, but in the 
relation of men and women. The process is still steadily going on. And it 
is not unreasonable to believe that, with the gradual elevation of the ideals 
of one half of the population, — that half which is in control of the early 
training of children of both sexes, — a common standard of character and 
morality may in time be acknowledged which will admit of but one rule by 
which the actions of mankind, without distinction of persons, class, or sex, 
may be measured. The fact that all distinction in favor of the privileged 
class has already been removed in the eyes of modern public opinion holds 
out such a hope. The casuistry which still discriminates between evil-doers 
can but retard moral progress, and the more earnestly modern parents urge 
upon their sons the same observance of the laws of hygiene and propriety, of 
truth and self respect, as they exact from their daughters, the nearer to 
true civilization will society reach. 

The world is yet far from this goal. No legislative act has 'as yet saved 
society from the ravages of vice, sensuality, and greed, and to-day every 
degree of savagery and immorality still exists in so-called civilized countries. 
Education, taking the word in its broadest sense, can alone, by its refining 
influence, force the savage to give way before reasoning man. And it is by 
the constantly increasing proportion of educated, self-respecting men and 



SIR EDWARD BULWER. 



THE CENTURY'S MORAL PROGRESS 267 

women that the coarser instincts of the human race are being controlled and 
Drought to yield to reason. By holding up the same standards of conduct to 
humanity, the important place occupied by casuistry and expediency, in the 
discussion of the ethical problems set before the moralist, may be reduced, and 
a logical facing of the serious issues to be met may follow. Such a result 
must tend to strengthen the marriage tie and the family relation, upon which 
rests the whole moral structure of society. 

At present, modern casuistry, if it no longer seeks to justify falsehood and 
crime committed on behalf of Church or State, still exonerates, in the world 
of affairs, the high railroad official or the industrial magnate of an infraction 
of the higher code by which his own personal integrity is judged, provided 
that infraction is committed in the interest of his constituents. Many a man 
of high standing, whose personal honor is beyond suspicion and whose con- 
science would not allow him to take an unfair advantage of another, does not 
hesitate to transgress when dealing with rival corporate bodies or with public 
interests. Hence the corruption which prevails in public life to a degree 
dangerous to the commonwealth, and which is in direct contradiction with the 
professed standards of the age. Must we then think that living up to the 
highest moral standard is incompatible with business success, and agree with 
M. Jules Lemaitre that "the attaining to moral perfection is really possible 
only in the solitude of literary or artistic pursuits, in the humility of manual 
labor, or in the dignity of such disinterested functions as those of priest or 
soldier " ? 

However this may be, new conditions have created new problems which the 
public conscience alone can solve — as it has already solved that of slavery 
and of race — with unflinching logic. 

The human mind, if less concerned than it was in the days of Molina with 
polemics on the nature of the human will, — a question, by the way, which 
Rome after eleven years and thirty -three Councils dared not then settle, — or 
with theological controversies regarding the value of indulgences, is not yet 
at peace with itself. Indeed, for being less immaterial, the issues now before 
it for adjustment are, owing to their bearing upon practical life, all the more 
vital to the moral health of the body politic. 

To the respective rights and duties of labor and capital our best thinkers 
must turn their attention before an equitable solution can be reached. That 
such a solution must be reached cannot be doubted, for the interests at stake 
are fundamental. 

Whilst individualism in thought and in conduct asserts itself at every turn, 
never were the principles of organization so actively carried out among all 
classes of society. To the strain caused by the forming of trades unions 
and of united labor leagues for the protection of the wage-earner is now 
succeeding the danger produced by the concentration of capital in the hands 
of powerful corporations and the creation of mighty trusts, the undue 
extension of which in this country seems to threaten the prosperity of the 
nation and to add to its political corruption. As against these monopolies, 
public ownership and operation of common utilities is being successfully tried, 
notably in England and the British Colonies, and the honest municipalization 
of all community service, carried on as the post-office is carried on among us, 
results in positive benefit to the people, that is, in good wages and reduced 



268 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 

taxes. To discuss these important problems would encroach upon the domain 
of political economy and social science ; but there is no doubt that the public 
morality is closely dependent upon their solution. 

Whether so-called civilized nations, whilst regarding murder as a capital 
offense and punishing dueling when indulged in by individuals, will long 
continue to train their best men at enormous expense, in order that in cold 
blood they may scientifically destroy the greatest possible number of other 
trained and equally good men ; whether peaceful communities of practical 
tradesmen will some day cease to emulate barbarians in their rejoicings over 
the slaughter of so-called enemies whom they are individually prepared to 
befriend and whose prowess they are ready to extol, are glaring contradictions 
offered by the problem of war which must be left to future generations to 
reconcile. The leading part which the Anglo-Saxon race has taken in urging 
arbitration as a proper means of settling international differences places it in 
the foremost rank of civilization; whilst the Peace Conference proposed by 
one of Europe's most powerful potentates, the Czar of Russia, must bring a 
ray of hope to the hearts of those who labor for the advent of universal peace. 
Such are the great moral issues of the present day ; and in these many 
minor ones are included. Everywhere and at all periods of history the theory 
of ethics has widely differed from practical conduct. The race conflict which 
is taking place in Erance as the result of the Dreyfus trial, more than a 
century after the emancipation of the Jews before the law was proclaimed, is 
a late illustration of this fact. To this, the corruption and failure of justice 
which recent exposures have revealed in the highest circles of republican 
France add peculiar significance. As already stated, the broad outlines 
established in precept remain unchanged, and it is in their logical application 
that lie all present growth and future hope. 

To trace, even in sketchy outline, the debit and credit account of modern 
ideas upon the various subjects involved in the above mentioned issues would 
be a serious undertaking. A chapter must be devoted to each nation, for the 
moral progress of each differs as does its besetting sin. Moreover, every 
shade of opinion must be weighed and considered. Inherited traditional 
views are, in each modern mind, hopelessly interwoven with the new articles 
of a code of morals which public opinion is even now evolving from contem- 
porary conditions. " Each of us," says Edmond Schemer, " belongs to two 
civilizations, that which is coming and that which is going ; and as we are 
accustomed to the first, we are poorly placed to judge or enjoy the latter." 

There never was an epoch when the struggle for existence was fiercer and 
when earthly possessions were more keenly prized. But despite the many 
survivals which still point to a semi-barbaric inheritance of selfishness 
descended through millenniums, a decided moral gain may, on the whole, be 
placed to the credit of our era. With the decrease of the sum total of 
ignorance, not only among the lower but among the upper classes, the sum 
total of well-doing and well-being has immeasurably increased. 

The sympathy for suffering is more Avidespread than it has ever been. jSIo 
middle-aged person can fail to note the rapid change which has taken place 
in the public mind with regard to the general treatment not only of children, 
but of animals. The present mode of dealing with school children according 
to their individual capacity, the trust in their honor which governs their 



THE CENTURY'S MORAL PROGRESS 



269 




CAPTAIN ALFRED DREYFUS. 



relation to the teacher, the absence of any corporal punishment, form a recent 
departure in education well calculated to produce the best moral results. 

The improvement of modern methods in relief work as well as in the 
treatment of vice — now viewed more 
in the light of a pathological condition 
than in that of a sin — must make this 
a memorable epoch in the ethical his- 
tory of humanity. No branch of civili- 
zation has undergone greater change in 
modern times both in theory and prac- 
tice than public and private charity. 
To-day the humanitarian endeavors to 
lift up the fallen and the needy, and 
almsgiving on the part of the well-to- 
do is fast becoming relegated to the 
category of a self-indulgence which is 
not to be encouraged. The distinction 
between the old methods and the new 
is given in the formula that "hence- 
forth the chief test of charity will be 
the effect upon the recipient." Any re- 
lief calculated to undermine self-reli- 
ance and independence is discouraged 

by those who have in view the prevention of our moral ills rather than their 
relief. 

Indeed, the new school preaches scientific charity as against emotional 
charity. What it may have lost in impulse it has more than made up in 
effectiveness. The attempt to teach the needy to help themselves, the work 
of college settlements and of the organized efforts in the poorest and 
most neglected districts of large cities, with a view to fostering by personal 
contact and example habits of thrift and self-respect where those virtues are 
most lacking, are among the truest if more homely glories of the closing 
century. 

Verily, never was a more thoughtful effort made everywhere to mitigate 
the cruel distinctions of race and sex, of wealth and poverty, and to 
" harmonize the social antagonisms " of modern life. Never was so much 
consideration given to the betterment of humanity, nor was the aggregate of 
earnestness so great. 

In our more robust intellectual world the tree is judged by its fruit, and 
acts tell, not creed. The principle that well-doing, unless it is disinterested, 
forfeits its claim to the highest respect of men, is growing in strength, whilst 
the feeling is gaining ground among the thoughtful that in the development 
of personality may be found a sufficient motive for the exercise of virtue, and 
that character, not reward, being not having, are the highest aims. 

If we resume the moral progress of the nineteenth century, allowing for 
its inconsistencies, carefully weighing its negative and positive results, and 
taking as a balance what is original in its contribution to the ethical develop- 
ment of the human race, we will find that this contribution mainly lies in the 
direction of tolerance and of altruism. This altruism is distinct from the 



270 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

charity of St. Vincent, which sacrificed self in a loving attempt to relieve 
individual distress. Such pure sacrifice, admirable as it is, is not only narrow 
in its scope, but because of its austerity must fail to survive in the struggle 
for existence. Modern altruism aims at removing the main cause of 
individual distress, and spends itself in educational efforts, in which the well- 
doer finds happiness in the consciousness of usefulness. It is also unlike the 
socialism of Condorcet, which reached down in an endeavor to make all 
institutions subservient to the interests of the poorer and most numerous 
classes, for it aims at lifting these to the highest possible plane* The moun- 
tain summits are not to be lowered, but the valleys are being filled. To raise 
the people, to build up, not to tear down, is the avowed end of all modern 
moral effort, and must ever stamp the humanitarian struggles of the present 
age as distinct from those of the eighteenth and preceding centuries. 

With this we may claim an increase in individual freedom, and a per- 
ceptible tendency to a logical and ever broadening conception, not only of the 
rights, but of the duties of citizenship ; to a more honest recognition of the 
place assigned by expediency to evil in the social and business intercourse of 
a practical life ; to a growing scorn of casuistry, and to a stronger faith in 
the reality of right and of abstract truth as they are revealed in every 
thinking man's heart, and the uniformity of which is reflected in the public 
conscience. 



PROGRESS OF SANITARY SCIENCE 

By CHARLES McINTIRE, A.M., M.D., 

Lecturer on Sanitary Science, Lafayette College, Easton, Pa. 

Since blessings brighten as they take their flight, it may be difficult to 
realize how much of our present happiness and comfort depend upon the 
constantly abiding benefactions brought about by the progress of Sanitary 
Science in the present cycle. The proper care of the body and the pre- 
vention of disease, rather than its cure, have occupied the minds of men 
from the dawn of history. Moses is the author of a well-digested code of 
hygiene, and erudite scholars can find hints of the proper conservation of 
health in the Egyptian papyri. Hippocrates wrote about the prevention as 
well as the cure of disease ; indeed, all along the course of time the master 
minds of medicine attempted the solution of many of the problems of Sanitary 
Science as eagerly as they sought for the elixir vitce or for the universal 
solvent. Notwithstanding all this, one can truthfully say that sanitation 
could not be fairly termed Sanitary Science until its rules of procedure began 
to be formulated with more or less exactness upon careful experiment and 
accurately recorded observation. Sanitary science, as such, could not begin 
to be until pathology (a knowledge of the morbid processes of disease) and 
etiology (a study of the causation of disease) had builded upon a scientific 
foundation. Before this all deductions were from experience, and had no 
other reason than the seeming helpfulness of the procedure ; after this, as 
fast as the facts were demonstrated, deductions were made that determined 
a procedure which would of a certainty accomplish the purpose. In the 
olden times, during an epidemic of a contagious disease, tar barrels were 
burned in the streets, — and not without some benefit. At the present, the 
room, with its contents, can be disinfected with a certainty of destroying 
every atom of contagion. 

This difference must be kept in mind when comparing the old with the 
new, and the true reason of the great advance be recognized as due to the 
spirit of scientific investigation, which began in the latter part of the last 
century with the employment of instruments of precision in research, and 
which has developed so wonderfully up to the present that the experimental 
psychologist measures the minute portion of time it takes to form a thought. 
At the same time, it must be kept in mind that the sciences which furnish 
sanitary science much of its material are progressing and, because progress- 
ing, changing ; that the conditions desired to be removed are prevailing, and 
the necessity of overcoming them urgent. Not in every case has the sanita- 
rian fully demonstrated and laid down scientifically accurate data on which 
to base his method of procedure. Hence it happens that even now sanitary 
empiricism must needs be mingled with sanitary science, and the mingling is 
sometimes as much of a motley as the dress of the court fool of the Middle 
Ages. 

Since sanitary science had its origin during the present century, it will be 



272 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

helpful to assign a definite period for its birth. Not that any one would have 
the temerity to dogmatically assert that the science came into being at a fixed 
date, but rather to fix a period of time when the conditions working through 
the ages were so shaped that, perforce, the problems of sanitation would 
thereafter be treated more in a scientific and less in an empirical method than 
before. This time is associated with the beginning of the reign of Queen 
Victoria of England, since the first Act of Parliament for the registration of 
births, marriages, and deaths was passed in 1837, and the beginning made of 
accurately gathering information which is to the sanitarian what the pulse is 
to the physician. With his fingers on this tell-tale of the flow of the heart- 
blood of the nation, he is enabled to determine whether disease is above or 
below the normal, the character of the disease that abounds, and its where- 
abouts. Knowing where to find any disease in excess, he can study the con- 
ditions and surroundings, comparing them with other places, whether afflicted 
in like manner or, more favored, free from the disease. By means of these 
vital statistics he can compare year with year, and tell with a degree of exact- 
ness heretofore impossible whether any disease is increasing or decreasing ; 
he can lay his returns by the side of the figures of the meteorologist and learn 
if the weather has any influence on the death-rate ; he can follow the results 
of his efforts to improve the condition of the people and vindicate his expen- 
diture of the public money by pointing to the reduced mortality rate. It may 
seem to be a gruesome task for every physician in the land to send to the pro- 
per official a notice of each death and of each patient suffering from a disease 
apt to be communicated to some one else ; and almost ghoulish for the officer 
to sit at his desk, day after day, and catalogue and tabulate these returns. 
But it is only a modern version of the old riddle of Samson, out of the bit- 
ter came forth the sweet ; for without this, much of the progress of sanitary 
science would be well-nigh impossible. 

The act adopted in Great Britain has been modified and improved upon 
since then, and in the United States many of our cities and some of our States 
have been engaged in a similar effort. As yet we have no central bureau or 
collecting office for the nation ; nor is this necessary, if each State would do 
its duty, or, at least, the general government in that event need only tabulate 
the returns of each of the States. The effort is now making, under the aus- 
pices of the American Public Health Association, to secure a uniform method 
of registration in all offices collecting vital statistics, by which the same name 
will be given to the same disease and the same facts recorded in each return 
made. This will cause a little confusion at first in those offices where statis- 
tics have been tabulated for a number of years, but the advantage will be so 
great as to fully repay any inconvenience at the first. If we desire to obtain 
the full benefits from the advance of sanitary science, we must see to it that 
in every State there is an efficient bureau of vital statistics, whether under 
the supervision of the State Board of Health or some other department 
of the State. The absence of such a bureau reflects upon the intelligence of 
the people or the integrity of the law-making power. 

Are there tangible results to warrant so sweeping an assertion ? is a fair 
question, since at the time of the preparation of the census of 1890 New 
Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, 
New Jersey, and Delaware were the only States collecting vital statistics, and 



PROGRESS OF SANITARY SCIENCE 



273 



since then but Maine and Michigan have been added. Before quoting figures, 
it must be premised that even now the returns only approximate accuracy ; 
they were much more inaccurate at the first, and before the general registra- 
tion was undertaken most of the statements are merely estimates, after the 
fashion of the geographer who gives the number of inhabitants in China, 
where a census never has been taken. It may happen that the benefits are 
not as great as the figures seem to show, but after making all allowance there 
is great improvement. 

LIVES SAVED BY PUBLIC-HEALTH WORK. 

Comparison of death-rates in Michigan from scarlet fever and, small-pox before and since 
the State Board of Health was established, and from typhoid fever before and since its 
restriction was undertaken by the State Board. {Compiled from the State Department's 
" Vital Statistics'" of Michigan.) 



Id 

-1 


REPORTED DEATHS PER 10,00 


D INHABITANTS. 


SCARLET FEVER 


SMAL 


L-POX. 


TYPHOID 


FEVER. 


u 

(0 

A 


1869-73. 


I874-9B. 


1869-73. 


1874-96. 


1869-78. 


1879-96. 


(BEFOREj 

J4.85g 


(sinceJ 


(BEFOREJ 


(SINCE.) 


(BEFOREJ 


(SINCE.) 






















2^7 




*» 












9 an 


2 




i on 








fl 








Hi 


0.85 








0.15 





The " Encyclopaedia Britannica " asserts that two centuries ago the mortal- 
ity of London was 80 per 1000, while now it is but a little over 20. In 1841, 
out of every 100,000 people in England, 30,000 would have died before reach- 
ing the age of 10, and one half would have died before they were 40 years old; 
in the decennium 1881-90, before 30,000 would have died out of each 100,000 
18 



274 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

some would have lived to be 17, and some would have lived to be 55 before one 
half of the number had departed into the unknown and the hereafter. 

The figures of the statistician must be quoted again and again in the pro- 
gress of the article, as no more tangible evidence can be given of the bene- 
fits resulting from improved methods of sanitation. Very early a coincidence 
was observed between the uncleanly and the death-rate. Neighborhoods 
where little or no care was taken to remove the refuse, where there were foul 
drains and a deficient water supply, were found to be the abodes of special 
forms of disease, — so much so, that these diseases soon received the name of 
" filth diseases." Acting upon the suggestion, the gospel of cleanliness was 
preached and its practice enforced. There was a " redding up " in its event- 
xiality as thorough as the cleansing of Santiago de Cuba in recent days. It 
did not take long to discover that decaying organic matter in some way was 
the offending body, and that this contaminated the water supply. Wells were 
condemned and public water supplies installed ; means were sought to enable the 
cleansing to be constantly carried on, and sewers for house drainage followed 
or accompanied the water supply. In proportion as this has been thoroughly 
done has the death-rate from certain diseases diminished. During the last 
century the European armies were decimated by fever (typhus or relapsing) to 
such a degree that the work of the fell destroyer at Santiago was trifling in 
comparison. On into the present century, the great scourge of Great Britain 
was these same two fevers; so much so, that "the fever" meant the dread jail 
or typhus fever. It was imported into this country, and epidemics of " ship 
fever " were of frequent occurrence. Thus, as late as 1846, it was estimated 
that in Dublin alone there were 40,000 cases of fever, with a total in Ireland 
of 1,000,000 cases. There were 10,000 deaths in Liverpool, a city especially 
prone to the disease ; while in Edinburgh one person out of every nine of the 
population was attacked, and one out of every eight of the sick died. Turn- 
ing from this account to the medical returns of the war for the Union, there 
were reported only 1723 cases, with 572 deaths, to the office of the Surgeon 
General, and even these a very competent authority after careful investigation 
decided not to be instances of true typhus. Or turn to civil practice : the 
disease is found so seldom with us that it is not necessary to assign to it a 
column along with the other diseases in publishing the mortality returns by 
our health authorities. The deaths from fever in London during October, 
November, and December, 1898, were but 296. London has an estimated popu- 
lation of 4,504,766, and the " fever " in the report included typhoid, simple and 
ill-defined forms of fever, as well as typhus. This makes a death-rate of but 
0.26 per 1000. 

Had sanitary science no other trophy, its votaries could still boast of the 
great benefits to humanity brought about by their labors. This is but one 
of many ; thus, scurvy, the great bane of the navy, is now a disease that few 
physicians have the misfortune to see, or patients to endure. Then that dis- 
ease somewhat akin to typhus, and until within the memory of the fathers 
confounded with it, hence called typhoid fever, is likewise fast disappearing, 
more rapidly in cities than in rural communities however. The suppression 
of typhoid proceeds with equal step with the introduction of a public water 
supply in our towns, the adoption of the proper means to furnish this water 
unpolluted, and the proper removal of domestic waste through sewers, whose 



PROGRESS OF SANITARY SCIENCE 



275 



contents are so treated as to work no harm after they escape. Notwith- 
standing these great triumphs, if boasting is permissible, the sanitarian's 
boast is rather that his science, which had its beginning, as we have seen at 
the time when there was a great awakening of the national conscience in 
British politics for " the larger sympathy of man with man," has broadened 
with the years of its growth ; has endeavored to care for one's brother so 
that his blood would not cry up from the ground ; so that, after forty or 
fifty years had passed, a distinguished sanitarian could write with literal 
accuracy: "Whatever can cause, or help to cause, discomfort, pain, sickness, 
death, vice, or crime — and whatever has a tendency to avert or destroy, or 
diminish such cases — are matters of interest to the sanitarian; and the 
powers of science and the arts, great as they are, are taxed to the uttermost 
to afford even an approximate solution of the problems with which he is con- 

MAP SHOWING "REGISTRATION STATES " NOW AVAILABLE 
FOR THE MORTALITY STATISTICS OF THE TWELFTH U. S. 

CENSUS (1900). 




Note. — States having immediate registration of deaths and requiring bur- 
ial permits are black. The only additions to the list since the Census of 1890 
are Maine (1891) and Michigan (1897). 

cerned." 1 And the crowning glory of the science to-day is the care it bestows 
upon the weak, the ignorant, and the helpless ; the efforts it makes to amelio- 
rate every undesirable condition of society. 

It would be misleading to infer that all of these benefits have been brought 
about solely through the collection of vital statistics, although much of it 
would have been difficult without the knowledge furnished by these statis- 
tics. Workers in almost every branch of pure science have contributed to 
the progress, — the physicist, the meteorologist, the chemist, and by no 
means the least, the biologist. Indeed, with the more recent investigations, 
the culture tube of the biologist has almost revolutionized medicine and all 
that pertains to it. 

Sanitary science seeks to accomplish two ends ; it purposes to prevent dis- 
ease and to promote public health. If it seeks to prevent disease, after the 
fashion of the oft-quoted cook-book, it must first secure the disease, or what 

1 Dr. J. S. Billings in Ziemssen' s Encyclopaedia. 



276 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

is essentially the same thing, know what causes it. If the cause be known, 
and we can conquer the cause, we can prevent the disease. Thus a disease 
known as trichinae, spiralis, from the name of the parasite invading the body 
and causing sickness and death, is caused by eating pork infected by the 
trichinae. We can certainly prevent trichinae in persons by forbidding pork ; 
but we also know that the trichinae do not occur in all pork, and that their 
presence can be detected by the microscope. If, then, a sample from every 
slaughtered pig is submitted to the microscopist, the infected pork can be 
discovered. This is done in our large packing establishments, especially for 
that pork which is to be exported. Again, a thorough cooking will kill the 
trichinae, even if present. Only the grossest carelessness, consequently, can 
account for a case of trichinae, and, indeed, it is a very rarely occurring dis- 
ease. This illustrates the importance of a knowledge of the cause of the 
disease, to enable one to devise a method for preventing it. In the study of 
disease causes, the biologist has been very successful during the past few 
years, and a number of our communicable diseases are demonstrated to be 
caused by the growth and development of bacteria. From this demonstra- 
tion in the case of some, a general hypothesis has been formulated, which is 
useful as a working hypothesis, but by no means safe to call a theory as yet. 
This hypothesis is that all of our communicable diseases are caused by living 
organisms originating in one person and conveyed to another, where they 
begin to grow, to reproduce their kind and to perform their life functions. 
Hence all communicating diseases are infectious. Some of these infectious 
diseases, like measles or smallpox, are capable of direct communication from 
one person to another, rendering them contagious ; others, like typhoid fever 
and cholera, are not contagious in this sense of the word. This is a very 
excellent distinction to make in the use of these much abused words. 

The biologist has rendered sanitary science great service not only in dis- 
covering the causes of certain diseases, but also by aiding to determine the 
nature of the disease in any outbreak. It makes a vast difference if a given 
case is one of true diphtheria or not, or of Asiatic cholera or not, and often 
the symptoms alone are not conclusive. Here the biologist comes to our aid, 
as is seen so often in cases of supposed diphtheria. A portion of the throat 
secretion is sent him under such precautions that no bacteria from the out- 
side can possibly contaminate. With this secretion he stabs or inoculates a 
jelly composition which he has placed in a test-tube, stuffs a wad of absorbent 
cotton in the mouth of his tube and puts it in a warm chamber or incubator. 
If there are any microbes present, they will begin to grow, and the expert 
biologist can tell the bacteria from its manner of growth as readily as the 
gardener can distinguish between his radishes and lettuce when they sprout 
in the spring, and in this way is able to report the nature of the germs. If 
he is in doubt, he carries his cultivation further and employs other tests to 
prove his observation. 

The biologist has also rendered great aid to sanitary science in discover- 
ing many other species of bacteria that are helpful to man. Our polluted 
waters could not be purified, our air could not be cleared from foul odors, 
nor the proper decomposition of organic matters go on, without the aid of 
bacteria. These little vegetable growths, while working much harm upon 
humanity, contribute far more to their comfort, well-being, and happiness 



278 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

than they do to their ill. Possibly no better illustrations can be given of 
the value of bacteriology to sanitary science, and the great progress it has 
brought about, than to contrast a cholera outbreak of a few years ago with 
one occurring more recently ; or to point to the efficacy of purifying water 
by the assistance of bacteria. Another disease, pulmonary consumption, may 
also be noticed, but the triumph here is not so marked as yet. 

The first outbreak of cholera in the United States occurred in 1832. In 
one special hospital in New York city, 2030 patients were received in the 
nine weeks from July 1 to September 1, and of these 850 died. An eye- 
witness, who was personally known to the writer, one not given to exaggera- 
tion, said that the state of dread and alarm had been increasing until, when 
the disease first made its appearance in New York, fully one half of the 
population had left the city, many of the physicians fleeing with the rest. 
There was no efficient health department, and no organized system for the 
protection of the public health. This gentleman was a city missionary, and, 
in the performance of his duties, visited many of the houses. He mentioned 
visiting one of these on a morning when the fifteenth body had been carried 
out. It was the time of the rumble of the dead cart and the indiscriminate 
burial in public trenches. Contrast the horrors of this scene with the last 
attempt of cholera to invade the United States, in 1893, when, notwithstand- 
ing its presence at the quarantine station in New York harbor, and the actual 
presence of a few well-authenticated cases in the city itself, not one of these 
cases proved a focus for the spread of the disease. 

The opinion that water in some way acts as a conveyer of disease can be 
generalized after a very little observation. To explain how it does this is a 
problem that was attempted to be solved by the chemist. He added vastly 
to our knowledge, but it was not until the biologist showed the presence of 
the disease-producing bacteria in water that a full explanation was possible. 
But the biologist has done more : it has been found, and notably in the very 
complete series of experiments carried on by the Massachusetts Board of 
Health, that even an effluent of a sewer, if filtered through a bed of sand, is 
purified to such an extent that the filtrate is a perfectly safe water to drink. 
The dangerous organic matter disappears, and ninety-eight per cent of the 
bacteria is removed. And it is pleasing to note, when one has so much to 
say of the dangers of bacteria, that the purification is entirely brought about 
by the action of bacteria working for the good of man. A sand filter bed 
does not purify water properly until it lias been in operation for a few days, 
when the top of the bed is covered with a slime in which the bacteria act 
upon the organic matter in the water and purify it. The fact of the purifica- 
tion was known before the manner in which it was done was understood ; and 
in those cities where the authorities have acted upon this knowledge and 
have purified their water supply, the influence upon the death-rate of typhoid 
fever is almost as marked as those already quoted for typhus fever, while 
the scourge of cholera has been almost entirely removed from their borders, 
as many an instance during the late outbreak in Europe could illustrate. It 
does not contribute to our self-esteem to know that most of the water sup- 
plies so filtered are to be found abroad. There is not enough of " practical 
politics" in filter beds to charm the traditional alderman of our cities. 

It is now clearly proven that a species of bacteria is uniformly present 



PROGRESS OF SANITARY SCIENCE 



279 



in pulmonary consumption. This bacillus is to be found in the material 
coughed up by those who are ill with that disease. It has considerable 
tenacity of life; the expectorated material can be dried, pulverized into 
dust, and carried about on the wind ; should the bacteria so dried and car- 
ried find a proper soil, they can grow and reproduce the disease. Fortu- 
nately, a combination of circumstances is required for the contraction of 
this disease, or it would be far more prevalent than it is. Notwithstanding, 
it already claims more victims than any other single disease. What has 
sanitary science done for its repression? It is attempting, in a tentative 
way, to obtain a registration of those who are consumptives, in order to teach 
them to avoid being possible sources of infection ; to disinfect the discharges 
carrying the bacteria, and at times the rooms occupied by the consumptives. 
In Rome, for example, the services of the public disinfectors are asked for 
as eagerly for the room occupied by a consumptive as for one that had been 
used by a person suffering from diphtheria. In New York city, where the 
department of health has been exercising an oversight and care over the con- 
sumptives, there has been a constantly diminishing death-rate from all tuber- 




SAND FILTER BED. 



cular diseases from 1886, when the rate was 4.42, to 1897, when it was 2.85, 
with the single exception of 1894, which was lower than 1895. It is too 
soon to predict the result, but the proper care of consumptives promises 
much to check the ravages of the disease. 

One of the charms connected with the great results indicated is the simpli- 
city of the methods employed to bring them about. While complex schemes 
and elaborate machinery may be necessary whenever the amount of service to 
be rendered requires organization and division of labor to properly accomplish 
the desired results, the principles are such that they can be executed in the 
smallest hamlet, and with the very crudest paraphernalia. The two great 
weapons of the sanitarian in fighting disease are isolation and disinfec- 
tion. Dr. Henry M. Baker, the efficient secretary of the State Board of 
Health of Michigan, has for years collected and tabulated the results of 
the observing and non-observing of these precautions in his State. He has 
a happy faculty for graphically presenting the results. One of his diagrams 
is presented here and needs no explanation. In very few of these out- 
breaks could there have been any municipal disinfecting plant or isolating 
hospital. 

Isolation and disinfection — but the old quarantine and fumigation under 
new names ! Who of us has not sympathized with the traveler of the earlier 
days in the Levant, when he was condemned to days and weeks of detention 



280 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 

in the barren lazaretto ? And even at so comparatively recent a date as the 
pilgrimage recorded by Mark Twain in his " Innocents Abroad," he states 
that the Italians found it more to their convenience to fumigate travelers 
than to wash themselves. How very different is a modern quarantine station, 
such as may be found near any of our more important ports on the Atlantic 
coast. If the health officer of the port finds a contagious disease upon board, 
he immediately removes the sick to the hospital, and keeps the well under 
supervision long enough to see if the disease has been communicated to any. 
He may keep them on shipboard; but more likely, if the ship must be disin- 
fected, he removes them to the detention station, safely separated from the 
hospital. The steerage has been crowded, and there is need of disinfection of 
their persons and clothing. Under proper supervision, each is required to 
take a bath, for which abundant facilities are furnished ; and while this is 
doing their clothing has been placed in the steam disinfecting apparatus, a 
partial vacuum secured, superheated steam introduced, the clothing thor- 
oughly disinfected, a partial vacuum again produced, whereby the contents 
are rapidly dried, and they are ready to be put on again by the time the bath 
is completed. The luggage is treated in the same way, while the cargo is 
probably treated to a sulphur fumigation, — the sulphur being burned in fur- 
naces and the fumes carried to all parts of the cargo through lines of hose. 
In the course of a very few days, at least, all but the sick can proceed on their 
journey without any risk of conveying the disease. 

Everything that has thus far been chronicled regarding the progress of 
sanitary science has related to the diminution of the death-rate and the pre- 
vention of disease. After all, is this worthy the telling ? When one learns 
"how the other half lives," or, with more restricted knowledge, realizes to a 
degree the intensity of the remark of a young Hebrew, replying to a command 
of a police officer to clean up, as related in " The Workers " by Professor 
Wykoff : "You tell us we 've got to keep clean," he answered in broken Eng- 
lish, lifting his voice to a shout above the clatter of machines ; " what time 
have we to keep clean, when it 's all we can do to get bread ? Don't talk to 
us about disease ; it 's bread we 're after, bread ! " 

Is it worthy of boasting that sanitary science is only increasing the hard- 
ships and adding to the number of mouths to be fed, without opening up new 
ways to earn one's bread ? Even if it be so decided, and all the claims of 
progress thus far made be declared wanting, there still remains much worthy 
of praise. Sanitary science strives not only to prevent disease, but also to 
promote health, and its progress is fully as marked in its efforts at promotion 
as in those of prevention, although we do not possess the cold figures of even 
imperfect vital statistics to demonstrate the proposition. 

It must be kept in mind that sanitary science is wider than sanitation in 
its technical sense. One would not care to assert that philanthropic effort 
and sweet charity are resultants of the development of sanitary science, — 
very few care to assert an evident untruth. But the influence of this study 
has been widespread and beneficial. The whole round of social science is also 
permeated with the truths demonstrated by the sanitarian, and is likewise 
deeply indebted to its teachings. Our field broadens greatly as we view it, 
just as one who has been traveling through a vale of surpassing grandeur, be- 
cause of the mountain barriers on either side, finds himself confronted by a 



PROGRESS OF SANITARY SCIENCE 



281 



park whose beauty is enhanced by its variety as well as its extent, bounded, 
it is true, by the same mountains, but merely a hazy definition of the distant 
horizon. 

In the construction of dwellings, for example, the small, low ceiled rooms, 
whose earthen or stone floors were covered with rushes seldom removed, the 
absorbers of whatever might fall upon the floor ; the unpaved, unswept, and 
unsewered street ; the domestic water supply but a well into which filters the 
water from the adjoining cesspool, — these and many similar destroyers of 
health and comfort can no longer be found among nations classed as enlight- 
ened in our school geographies. Even the improvements of half a century 
ago — the tenements improvised out of the deserted mansions of the well-to- 
do, with the additions built on the rear of the lot to increase the density of 




A QUARANTINE STATION. 



the population and the rent of the owner (as well as the death-rate), are dis- 
appearing, and in their places we find dwellings capable of furnishing air and 
light to all of the residents. 

Then, in the matter of streets, how much more attention is now given to 
small parks ! When about the middle of the century interest in public parks 
was revived, the efforts of the various cities were directed to the securing of 
large tracts of ground and beautifying them in every way. They were open 
to every one, it is true, but too often too far removed to be of use to the sub- 
merging tenth. Now, while not adorning these with one garland less, the 
effort is making to break up the congestion of the crowded districts by breath- 
ing spaces, to the comfort and vigor of those who must make the surrounding 
houses their homes. The streets, too, no longer paved with the unsightly 
cobble-stones, are made noiseless with the asphalt paving and, what is more to 
the purpose, can be easily cleansed by flushing. When practical business, and 
not practical politics, prevails in the municipality, there is no opportunity for 
the household refuse to accumulate, although no longer rushes are available to 
receive it, for it is regularly and promptly removed. 



282 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

The exigencies of trade compelled our government to establish its bureau 
for the inspection of meat. The necessity of an inspection of foodstuffs for 
export demonstrates the possibility of adulteration for the home market. 
While, possibly, the ingenuity of the sophisticator has more than kept pace 
with the keenness of the inspector, the health of the people has been main- 
tained, their comfort promoted, and their resources husbanded by the inspec- 
tions carried on by the various city and state boards of health. 

The welfare of the people at home, in their dwellings and at their tables, 
does not limit the efforts of the sanitarian. He takes cognizance of the daily 
toil, the ceaseless grind, to win one's daily bread. He recognizes that some 
callings are dangerous or annoying to the people, and devises methods to over- 
come this, or failing in this, insists that such occupations must be carried on 
remote from the dwelling-place of man. Others, he finds, bring danger to 
those who are employed. This may not be an inherent danger, but one ac- 
quired by our crowding of operatives, or in other ways not securing to them 
proper comfort ; and factory inspectors are at work to reduce these dangers to 
a minimum, and to prevent child labor as well — giving to youth, as far as 
cessation from overmuch toil can give, an opportunity to develop into physical 
manhood or womanhood. The sanitarian insists upon proper ventilation in 
mines, and tries to devise the means to remove the danger from those trades 
that ordinarily are inherently dangerous. 

The sanitarian seeks to aid in the amenities and relaxations of life as well. 
The playgrounds for children, the athletic grounds by the riverside at Boston, 
recreation piers in New York, are examples of this. And all of these are 
comparatively recent efforts, adding to the catalogue of achievements during 
the century. It was the arch-enemy who, in the poem of antiquity, said : 
" All that a man hath will he give for his life." But he made the remark after 
much observation, and to Jehovah, unto whom even he would not dare to lie; 
and the rolling years since the Hebrew epic was first written have only added 
testimony to the truth of the assertion. In these later days, when the rule and 
plummet are everywhere applied, where the scientist delves and classifies to 
seek the cosmos in the apparent chaos, there was evolved out of self-seeking 
for life a higher and better quest, — a search for those things which make for 
the health of all. This search has widened, until many a broad savannah has 
been trodden, many a mountain scaled and wilderness explored. With its ever 
extending view, new responsibilities and greater cares have been thrust upon 
those who are endeavoring to rule in this domain. A community, a nation, is 
but a unit. Let one part suffer, and all are in pain ; let one but decay, and 
rot is imminent everywhere. There can be no true social progress, no real 
stability of government, no national prosperity worthy the name, unless the 
environment of each individual permits the enjoyment of personal health, if 
he individually observes but the ordinary care of self. And whatever else of 
progress for sanitary science may be granted or denied as belonging to our 
century, the crowning claim of all, which cannot be taken from her, is that, 
along with the ideas embodied in commonweal and commonwealth, she has 
added the other of equal dignity and worth — Public Health. 



THE CENTURY'S ARMIES AND ARMS 

By LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ARTHUR L. WAGNER, 

Assistant Adjutant General, U. S. Army. 

A true appreciation of the progress made in the arts and sciences in the 
nineteenth century can be obtained only by contrasting the conditions found 
at present with those existing a hundred years ago. The difference between 
the sperm candle and the electric light; between the stage-coach and the 
rapid-flying express train ; between the flail and the threshing machine ; 
between the hand-loom and the machinery of the modern woollen mill ; 
between the cruel medical operations of five score years ago and the skillful 
surgery, with the use of anaesthetics, of the present day ; or between the 
mail-carrier with letters in his saddle-bags and the electric telegraph flash- 
ing news instantaneously from continent to continent ; marks the difference 
between the beginning of the nineteenth and the opening of the twentieth 
centuries. 

But there is scarcely an agency that has been employed during this won- 
derful century for the improvement of the condition of man that has not 
been enlisted for his destruction. Steam, electricity, chemical knowledge, 
engineering skill, and mechanical invention have all been employed in the 
science of war, and everything pertaining to the organization, arms, equip- 
ment, supply, training, and even the size of armies, has been so revolution- 
ized that there is scarcely anything in common between the forces that fought 
at Marengo and those employed in recent wars, except the characteristic of 
being armed and organized bodies of soldiers under military leadership. 

The nineteenth century was born in the midst of war. All Europe was an 
armed camp, and the contest between the principles of the French Revolu- 
tion and the old feudal system had taken the form of actual strife upon the 
field of battle. A great alteration was taking place in the methods of war ; 
the old pedantic strategy of the Austrian school had already received a rude 
shock at the hands of the brilliant young Bonaparte, and the old tactical 
methods bequeathed by Frederick the Great were, also, soon to be shattered 
by the genius of the newer and greater warrior. To appreciate the changes 
that were already being made in military methods, a brief glance at the 
organization of the armed forces in the latter part of the eighteenth century 
is necessary. The Prussian army, as organized by the great Frederick, was 
regarded as the finest of the time. In it the most exact and machine-like 
methods were observed, the most careful accuracy in marching was required, 
drill was carried to mechanical perfection, volley firing was conducted with 
the greatest precision, and no skirmishers were employed. In comparison 
with later methods, the whole system may be characterized as exact, meth- 
odical, and slow. Armies were supplied entirely from magazines, by means 
of long and cumbrous trains, and the art of moving rapidly and subsisting on 
the country was still to be discovered. 

The French army produced by the Revolution, and led by such men as 



284 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



Dugommier, Hoche, Moreau, and Bonaparte, was trained to operate in 
column, to deploy quickly into line, and generally to act with celerity ; while 
the impoverished treasury of the republic compelled its armies to live 
entirely upon the country in which they were operating, as the only alterna- 
tive to starvation. This entailed serious hardships to the soldiers, and great 
distress to the population of the country in which they were acting, but it 
marked distinctly the beginning of a new system of supply, which con- 
tributed greatly to the rapid movement of armies. The French army, at 
the beginning of the century, contained no regiments, but was organized into 
demi-brigades, each of which consisted of four battalions, each comprising 
ten companies, two of which were trained to act as skirmishers. These 
demi-brigades, with one or more batteries of artillery, constituted a division, 
to which a small force of cavalry was generally added. In 1805 Napoleon, 
then the supreme ruler of France, made important changes in the organiza- 
tion of the army. The demi-brigade was replaced by the two battalion regi- 
ments, each regiment now consisting of eight companies. Two regiments 
formed a brigade, and two brigades and a regiment of light infantry consti- 
tuted a division. On the light regiment devolved the duties of skirmishers ; 
namely, to harass and develop the enemy before the main attack. The 
divisions were grouped into larger organizations known as corps d'armee, or 
army corps, each of which consisted of all arms of the service, and was, in 
fact, a force capable of operating independently as a small army. 1 A corps 
of reserve cavalry was also formed. In numbers the cavalry was equal to 
one fourth, and the artillery one eighth of the strength of the infantry. The 
infantry was armed with a smooth-bore, muzzle-loading, flint-lock musket, 
which required some thirty-two distinct motions in loading, and which had 
an effective range of only two hundred yards, though by giving it a high ele- 
vation it could do some damage at twice that 
distance. This weapon bore about the same 
relation to the magazine rifle of the present 
day that the old-fashioned sickle bears to the 
modern mowing-machine. The artillery con- 
sisted of muzzle-loading, smooth-bore guns, 
which had less than one fourth the range of 
the modern infantry rifle. Cavalry, being 
able to form with comparative impunity 
within close proximity of the opposing infan- 
try, could sweep down upon it in a headlong 
charge ; and the use of the sabre on the field 
of battle, now so rare, was then an almost 
invariable feature of every conflict. Under 
Napoleon the armies continued to "live on 
the country," but magazines of supplies were carefully prepared to supple- 
ment the exhausted resources of the theatre of war. 

In besieging a fortified place, the first parallel or line of batteries of the 
besiegers was habitually established at about six hundred yards from the 
enemy's w T orks, a distance then at long artillery range, but which would now 
be under an annihilating fire from infantry rifles. The cannon used solid 

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OLD STYLE SHRAPNEL. 



THE CENTURY'S ARMIES AND ARMS 285 

shot almost exclusively, though early in the present century a projectile, 
invented by Lieutenant Shrapnel, of the British army, and which now uni- 
versally bears his name, was introduced. This consisted of a thin cast-iron 
shell filled with round musket balls, the interstices between which were 
filled by pouring in melted sulphur or resin, to solidify the mass and prevent 
it from cracking the shell when the piece was fired. A hole was bored 
through the mass of sulphur and bullets to receive the bursting charge, 
which was just sufficient to rupture the shell and release the bullets, which 
then moved with the velocity that the projectile had at the moment of burst- 
ing. Shrapnel has at all times been a destructive missile, though in its early 
form it was insignificant in comparison with the "man-killing projectile" 
which now bears the same designation. 

In the year 1806, the Congreve rocket was added to the weapons of war. 
It consisted of a case of wrought iron, filled with a composition of nitre, 
charcoal, and sulphur, in such proportions as to burn more slowly than gun- 
powder. The head of the rocket consisted of a solid shot, a shell, or a 




CONGREVE ROCKET. 



shrapnel. At the base was fastened a stick, which secured steadiness for the 
projectile in its flight. The range of the rocket was scarcely more than five 
hundred yards, though a subsequent improvement, which dispensed with the 
guide-stick and substituted three tangential vents, increased the range very 
considerably. Congreve rockets were used with effect in Europe in 1814, 
and against our raw militia at Bladensburg in the same year. They seem, 
however, to have depended more upon the moral effect of their hissing rush 
than upon any really destructive properties, and were effective mainly against 
raw troops and cavalry. The rocket is now an obsolete weapon, having made 
its last appearance in war in the Austrian army in 1866. 

The infantry of all the armies of Continental Europe, when deployed for 
battle, was formed in three ranks. On the eve of the battle of Leipsic, 
Napoleon, finding himself greatly outnumbered by the allies, ordered his 
infantry to deploy in two ranks, in order that his front might approximate 
in length to that of the enemy. This formation had, however, been adopted 
by the British some years before, and had been used with great success 
against the assaulting French columns, in many of Wellington's battles in 
Spain, where the steadfast Anglo-Saxon soldiery was able to maintain the 
" thin red line," and throw the fire of every musket against the denser forma- 
tion of its foes. It was not until the British troops encountered, upon our own 
soil, an Anglo-Saxon opponent as steadfast as themselves, and better skilled 
in marksmanship, that they were unable to achieve a victory over their 
enemies. True, our raw militia was everywhere beaten when it encountered 
the disciplined soldiers of Great Britain, but our regular troops at Chippewa 
and Lundy's Lane gallantly defeated the choice veterans of Wellington's 
•campaigns ; and, at New Orleans, an army composed mainly of hardy back- 



286 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 




MINIE BALL. 




woodsmen, trained in Indian fighting, and expert in the use 
of the rifle, hurled back, with frightful carnage, experi- 
enced British soldiers who had habitually triumphed over 
the best veterans of the French empire. 

The battle of New Orleans marked the introduction of 
the rifle as a formidable arm for infantry. It was by no 
means a new weapon, for it had been invented in Germany 
in 1498 ; but it had not been used to any extent in mili- 
tary service, mainly because of the slowness 
of loading. The capabilities of the rifle in 
the hands of an army of expert marksmen 
were, however, made so manifest by Jackson's 
great victory that the attention of military 
men was turned towards the weapon which 
had enabled a crude army to overwhelm the 
choicest troops of Europe. 

Yet it was not until 1850 that a practically 
efficient military rifle appeared. This was the invention of 
Captain Minie, of the French army, and was the well-known 
" Minie rifle," long familiar to troops on both continents. 
The weapon was a muzzle-loader, and its projectile, the 
" Minie ball," was of a conoidal shape, as shown in the ac- 
companying figure. The ball being slightly smaller in 
diameter than the bore of the piece, the loading was easily 
accomplished, and the shock of the explosion against the 
cavity at the base of the bullet forced the lead into the 
grooves of the bore and caused the shot to take up a rotary 
motion on its axis — in other words, " to take the rifling." 

Rifles, mostly constructed on principles similar to those 
on which Minie's weapon was based, were soon in use in 
the armies of all great nations. The rifle musket, " model 
of 1855," adopted by the United States, is shown in the 
accompanying figure. 

In 1817 percussion caps were invented in the United 
States, but some time elapsed before they were introduced 
into military use ; and though the " percussion rifle " was 
known in 1841, the victorious troops which went with Scott 
in the brilliant campaign from Vera Cruz to the City of 
Mexico, six years later, were armed with the flint-lock mus- 
ket. In 1833, Colonel Colt invented the first practical re- 
volving pistol. This weapon, especially in its present 
perfected form, is so well known as to need no descrip- 
tion. The first pattern of Colt's revolver used paper car- 
tridges and percussion caps. 

In the long period of peace which Europe enjoyed 
after the battle of Waterloo, but little change was made 
in the organization of the armies of the great powers; 
and in the Crimean war (1855-56) the composition of the 
English, French, and Russian armies did not differ mate- 



THE CENTURY'S ARMIES AND ARMS 



1^87 



rially 



from the constitution of the forces of the same nations in the Napole- 
onic wars. Marked changes had, however, been made 
in the nature of the weapons ; most of the English and 
a part of the French infantry being armed with the 
rifle, though the Russian infantry, with the exception 
of a few selected regiments, were still armed with the 
smooth-bore musket. Though the extreme range of 
the rifle at this time did not exceed eight hundred 
yards, and was inaccurate at half that distance, it was, 
nevertheless, a formidable weapon in comparison with 
the infantry musket of Napoleonic times. Rifled siege 
guns were employed by the British at Sebastopol, but 
they were not a success, and were soon withdrawn 
from the batteries. A striking indication of the in- 
creased range of artillery was furnished at Sebastopol, 
when the besiegers established their first parallel at a 
distance of 1300 yards from the Russian works. 

In the Italian war of 1859 rifled cannon appeared 
for the first time upon the field of battle. They were 
employed by the French, and to their use was largely 
due the victories of the French and Sardinians over 
the Austrians. For many years the attention of artil- 
lerists had been devoted to the production of servicea- 
ble rifled artillery, and as early as 1846 an iron breech- 
loading rifled cannon had been invented in France by 
Major Cavalli. This gun fired a shell not dissimilar in 
shape to the projectile employed in the Minie rifled 
musket. In 1854, experiments with a Cavalli gun gave 
very satisfactory results, both in range and accuracy ; 
but the breech mechanism seemed dangerously weak, 
and the rifled guns, adopted by the French and used 
with such effect in Italy, were muzzle-loaders. 

In 1854 a breech-loading rifled field-piece was in- 
vented by Sir William George Armstrong. It was 
made of wrought-iron bars coiled into spiral tubes, and 
welded by forging. The breech was closed with a 
screw which could be quickly withdrawn for loading 
and sponging the gun. The projectile was made of 
cast-iron, thinly coated with lead, and was (with its 
coating) slightly larger in diameter than the bore. The 
lead coating was crushed into the grooves by the force 
of the powder, the necessary rotation being thus given 
to the projectile. This gun gave excellent results in 
range and in rapidity and accuracy of fire, but it was 
not until some years after its invention that it was 
adopted in the British service. Other breech-loading 
cannon soon appeared ; but in the United States army 
the 3-inch Rodman muzzle-loading rifled gun was pre- 
ferred to any breech-loader then devised, and was 



o 



mr 



•288 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



used with great effect throughout the War of Secession. This gun was made 
by wrapping boiler plate around an iron bar, so as to form a cylindrical mass, 
the whole being brought to a welding heat in a furnace and then passed 
through rollers to unite it solidly. The piece was then bored and turned to 
the proper shape and dimensions. The projectiles for rifled guns were gen- 
erally coated with soft metal, or furnished with an expanding base or cup of 
similar metal or papier mache ; though in some systems they were furnished 
with studs or buttons which fitted into the grooves of the bore. In the case 
of the Whitworth gun, the projectile was made nearly of the exact size and 
form of the bore, so as to fit accurately into the grooves. 

Breech-loading cannon were not, however, quickly adopted, owing, perhaps, 
to conservatism on the part of artillerists, and partly because the guns first 
produced did not seem to give appreciably better results in range, accuracy, 




RODMAN GUN. 



or even in rapidity of fire than the muzzle-loaders. Not only were breech- 
loading cannon adopted with seeming reluctance, but rifled cannon generally 
were looked upon with disfavor by many artillerists of the old school. 
Hohenlohe tells of an old Prussian general of artillery who was so preju- 
diced against the rifled innovation that he requested, on his death-bed, that 
the salute over his grave should be fired with nothing but smooth-bore guns. 
It must be confessed, however, that the 12-pound smooth-bore Napoleon gun 
long held its own against the new rifled field-pieces, as many a bloody battle 
in our Civil War well attested. 

In the manufacture of heavy guns the United States for some time led 
the world. In 1860, General Rodman, of the Ordnance Department, pro- 
duced the first 15-inch gun ever made. This gun was made of cast-iron, 
and was cast on a hollow core, cooled by a stream of water passing through 
it, by which means the metal nearest the bore was made the hardest and 
most dense, and the tendency towards bursting was thus reduced to a mini- 
mum. General Rodman was also the inventor of the hollow cake powder, 
which consisted of cakes perforated with numerous small holes for the 
passage of the flame, thus enabling the powder to be progressively con- 
sumed, and causing the amount of gas at the last moments of the discharge 




GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT. 



THE CENTURY'S ARMIES AND ARMS 



289 



to be greater than at the instant of ignition. A large-grain powder, known 
as " mammoth powder," was afterwards devised by him to produce the same 
results. It will be seen later that this invention has rendered possible 
the powerful ordnance of the present day ; and it is perhaps not too much 
to say, that Rodman is really thus the father of the modern high-power 
guns. 

At the beginning of the War of Secession the heaviest gun in the United 
States was the 15-inch Rodman, the projectile of which weighed 320 lbs., the 
charge of powder weighing 35 lbs. Next to this was the 10-inch Columbiad, 
which fired a 100-lb. shell with a charge of 18 lbs. of powder. The effective 
range of these guns was a little less than three miles. The heaviest mortar 
was of 13-inch caliber, fired a 200-lb. shell, with a charge of 20 lbs. of pow- 
der, and had a range of 4325 yards. This mortar was, like all others then 




OLD SMOOTH-BORE MORTAR. 



in use, manipulated by means of handspikes, and not only was much less 
powerful, but was much more clumsy than the admirable mortar of the 
present day. 

The Crimean and Italian wars had foreshadowed the passing away of the 
old military conditions and the dawning of a new era of warfare. But it was 
in the gigantic struggle which rocked our own country for four years that the 
developments of modern warfare really commenced. At the beginning of this 
great conflict the ranges of 1000 to 1200 yards for field guns, and of 1500 to 
2000 yards for heavy guns, were as great as could be secured with any degree 
of accuracy. The infantry rifle with which the Union and Confederate 
armies were armed had an extreme range of but 1000 yards, and a really 
effective range of only half that distance. The rifle was a muzzle-loader, 
which required nine distinct motions in loading besides those necessary in 
priming the piece with the percussion cap then used. The tactics employed 
at first in all arms of the service did not differ materially from the methods 
employed in the Napoleonic wars ; and a line of American infantry deployed 
for battle in two ranks, shoulder to shoulder, scarcely differed in anything 
19 



290 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

but the color of its uniforms from the "thin red line" of Wellington's war- 
riors. All this was to be changed ; but it was not only in the matter of arms 
and tactics that a revolution was to be effected, for new forces hitherto untried 
were to be employed in the art of war. 

The War of Secession was not only one of the most gigantic conflicts ever 
waged on earth, but was one which ay ill always be of interest to the military 
student because of its remarkable developments in the science of warfare, 
and one which will ever be a source of pride to Americans because of the 
grim earnestness and stubborn valor displayed by the contending armies. 
From first to last, more than two millions of men were enrolled by the 
United States, and in the final campaign 1,100,000 men were actually bear- 
ing arms in the service of the Union. The infantry was organized in compa- 
nies of one hundred men, ten companies forming a regiment. At first, three 
or four regiments constituted a brigade, though it was afterwards formed of a 
greater number when the regiments became depleted by the losses of battle. 
Three brigades generally composed a division, which also habitually included 
two batteries of artillery and a small detachment of cavalry for duty as order- 
lies and messengers. Three or more divisions constituted an army corps. 
The cavalry was formed into brigades and divisions, which in the later years 
of the war were combined to form, in each of the large armies, a corps of cav- 
alry. It was in command of such corps of mounted troops that Sheridan, 
J. E. B. Stuart, Merritt, and Wilson achieved their great fame. The bat- 
teries first distributed to divisions, or even brigades, were afterwards assigned 
to the army corps, and all guns not thus employed were grouped into a corps 
of reserve artillery. 

It is a curious fact that the two factors most important in warfare were 
found to be two inventions designed primarily for the interests of peace, 
namely, the railroad and the electric telegraph. Steam and electricity had 
both been used in the Crimean and Italian wars ; but it was in the War of 
Secession that they received their first great and systematic application. The 
effect of the use of railroads in war not only enables armies to be more rapidly 
concentrated than was formerly the case, but renders it possible to supply 
them to an extent and with a certainty that would otherwise be out of the 
question. The difference between the supply of an army by wagon and by 
rail was clearly shown in the siege of Paris, in 1870-71, where six trains a 
day fed the whole besieging army, while it is estimated that nearly ten thou- 
sand wagons would have been required for the same purpose. Moreover, the 
force of troops necessarily detached to protect a line of railroad communica- 
tions is not nearly so great as the force that would be necessary to guard the 
innumerable wagon or pack trains that would otherwise be required. In the 
opinion of the best military authorities, railroads, had they been in existence, 
would have enabled Napoleon to conquer Eussia, and with it the world ; 
while, without the aid of railroads, the successful invasion of the South by 
the armies of the Union would have been an impossibility. It is only while 
it keeps moving that an army can " live on the country." It is like a swarm 
of locusts, consuming everything within reach ; and if it be compelled to halt, 
whether for battle or from other cause, it must be supplied from bases in the 
rear, or it will speedily disintegrate from hunger alone. This fact was fully 
appreciated by General Sherman, when he left Atlanta in his famous " march 



THE CENTURY'S ARMIES AND ARMS 291 

to the sea ; " for though he expected to, and did, live upon the country, he 
nevertheless took the precaution to carry with him a wagon train containing 
twenty days' rations for his entire army. 

In the War of Secession the electric telegraph first appeared on the 
field of battle. The telegraph train became a prominent feature of all our 
armies ; and the day's march was hardly ended before the electric wire, rap- 
idly established by an expert corps, connected the headquarters of the army 
with those of each army corps, division, and brigade. But it was not in its 
employment on the actual field of battle that the telegraph found its most 
valuable military use. It enabled generals, separated by hundreds of miles, 
to be in constant communication with each other, and rendered it possible 
for Grant to control from his headquarters hut at City Point the movements 
of the armies of Sherman, Thomas, and Sheridan in combined operations, 




SPENCER CARBINE. 

which enabled each to perform, in harmony with the others, its part in the 
mighty plan. 

It followed as naturally as day follows night that a shrewd and intelligent 
people, engaged in a desperate struggle for self-preservation, would avail 
themselves of all means provided by military science for carrying out the 
contest in which they were engaged. Iron-clad vessels had been devised in 
both England and France, but they were merely frigates designed on the old 
lines and partly covered with a sheathing of armor. With characteristic 
energy and ingenuity the Americans, ignoring old traditions and seeking the 
shortest road to the fulfillment of a manifest want, produced simultaneously 
the Merrimac and the Monitor, the former resembling "a gabled house sub- 
merged to the eaves," and the latter looking like " a Yankee cheese-box upon 
a raft." These novel vessels met in their memorable combat at Hampton 
Eoads, and the booming of their guns sounded the death knell of the old 
wooden navies. 

As with war vessels, so with firearms. New conditions were met with in- 
ventive genius and mechanical skill. Though the great mass of our troops 
continued throughout the conflict to use the muzzledoading rifle, breech- 
loaders were in the hands of many thousands of our soldiers before the close 
of the great contest. In 1864 the cavalry of Sheridan and Wilson and many 
regiments of infantry were armed with breechdoading carbines, which gave 



292 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 








them a great advantage over their opponents. The effect of the breech-loaders 
upon the Confederates was unpleasantly surprising to them, and the Southern 
soldiers are said to have remarked with dismal humor that " the Yankees 
loaded all night and fired all day." 

The principal breech-loading arms in use in the Union armies were the 
Sharps and the Spencer. In the Sharps carbine the barrel 
was closed by a sliding breech-piece which moved at right 
angles with the axis of the piece, the breech being opened 
and closed by pulling down and raising up the trigger- 
guard. The Spencer carbine was a magazine rifle, and was 
greatly superior to the Sharps. The magazine of the rifle 
lay in the butt of the stock, and was capable of holding 
seven cartridges. As the cartridge was fired and ejected 
another was pushed forward into the breech by a spiral 
spring in the butt of the piece. The Spencer carbine used 
metallic cartridges. The introduction of these cartridges 
was one of the most remarkable advances in the art of war 
made during the present century. The cartridge in use in 
1864-65 is shown in the accompanying figure ; it consisted 
of a thin copper case firmly attached to the bullet contain- 
ing the powder, and having at its base a small metallic 
anvil, in a cavity of which was placed the fulminate, which 
was exploded by means of a firing pin, driven in by a blow 
of the hammer. The advantages of the metallic cartridge 
can scarcely be overestimated ; it rendered obsolete the 
percussion cap, and being water-proof it did away with the 
ever-present bugbear of damp ammunition. The old injunc- 
tion, " Put your trust in God and keep your powder dry," 
has consequently lost much of its force ; for while it is to 
be hoped that the soldier will continue to place his reliance upon Providence, 
the latter part of the advice can now be safely ignored. 

Among the many advantages possessed by the breech-loader over the 
muzzle-loader, the principal ones are greater rapidity of fire, ease of loading 
in any position, diminished danger of accidents in loading, and the impossibil- 
ity of putting more than one charge in the piece at the same time. This last 
advantage is by no means slight. Among 27,000 muzzle-loading muskets 
picked up on the battlefield of Gettysburg, at least 24,000 were loaded. Of 
these about half contained two charges, one fourth held from three to ten 
charges, and one musket contained twenty-three cartridges. 

The failure of the Americans to produce during the great war a practical 
breech-loading field-gun is doubtless due to the fact that the field artillery in 
use at that time answered fully all the requirements then existing. Owing 
to the nature of the country in which the armies were operating, the range of 
the 3-inch rifled gun was fully as great as could have been desired ; and on 
the broken and wooded ground which generally formed our field of battle, the 
smooth-bore Napoleon gun, firing shrapnel and canister, seemed to have 
reached almost the acme of destructiveness. Moreover, the muzzle-loading 
cannon, both rifled and smooth-bore, were served with such celerity as to make 
it a matter of doubt for some years after whether the introduction of breech- 






METALLIC CAR- 
TIDGE OP 1864-65 



THE CENTURY'S ARMIES AND ARMS 293 

loading field-guns would materially increase the rapidity of fire. It was not 
until infantry fire had greatly increased in range and rapidity that a further 
improvement in field artillery became necessary. In siege artillery, heavy 
rifled guns of the Rodman and the Parrott type appeared. The Parrott gun 
was of cast iron, strengthened by shrinking a coiled band of wrought iron 
over the portion of the piece surrounding the charge. The famous " Swamp 
Angel," used in the siege of Charleston, was a Parrott gun. The sea-coast 
artillery consisted mainly of smooth-bores of large calibre, which were able to 
contend successfully with any armor then afloat. It is a curious fact that the 
war, so to speak, between guns and armor has been incessantly waged since 
the introduction of the latter, every advance of armor towards the degree of 
invulnerability being met with the production of a gun capable of piercing it. 
The sea-coast artillery of the United States in the Civil War met fully every 
demand to which it was subjected. 

The War of Secession produced the first practical machine-gun, — the Gat- 
ling, — though such guns were not used to any extent. The machine-gun has, 
in fact, passed through a long period of gestation, and it is only in "recent 
years that it can be said to have attained its full birth. Our great war was 
also noted for the introduction of torpedoes. These peculiar weapons had, it 
is true, been devised may years before ; and Robert Pulton had, in the early 
part of the century, devoted his inventive genius to the production of a sub- 
marine torpedo, which, however, was never practically tested in war. It was 
not until the contest of 1861-65 that torpedoes were of any practical use. 
The high explosives of the present day being then unknown, these torpedoes 
depended for their destructive force upon gunpowder alone. Yet crude and 
insignificant though they were in comparison with the mighty engines of de- 
struction now known by the same name, they accomplished great results in 
more than one instance. The destruction of the Housatonic off Charleston, 
the sinking of the Tecumseh in Mobile Bay, and Cushing's daring destruction 
of the Albemarle, gave notice to the world that a new and terrible engine of 
warfare had made its appearance. 

But it was not merely by the production of new weapons that the great 
American war was characterized. It marked the turning-point in tactics as 
well. The first efforts of our great armies of raw volunteers were as crude as 
the warfare of untrained troops always is, and it was fortunate that we were 
opposed to a foe as unpracticed as ourselves ; but as the troops gained experi- 
ence in war, acquired the necessary military instruction, — in brief, learned 
their trade and became regulars in all but name, — they displayed not only 
a steadfast prowess, but a military skill that placed the veteran Ameri- 
can soldier at the head of the warriors of the world. The art of constructing 
hasty intrenchments on the field of battle grew out of the quickness of the 
American soldier to appreciate the necessity of providing defensive means to 
neutralize, in some degree, the greatly increased destructive effect of improved 
arms. In this respect he was thirteen years in advance of the European sol- 
dier, for hasty intrenchments did not appear in Europe until the Turco- 
Russian War. True, intrenchment on the field of battle was as old as war 
itself ; but the American armies were the first that developed a system of 
quickly covering the entire front of an army with earthworks hastily thrown 
up in the presence of the enemy, and often actually under fire. Skirmishers 



294 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

were no longer used merely to feel and develop the enemy ; but in many of 
our battles, notably in Sherman's campaign in Georgia, the engagement was 
begun, and fought to the end, by strong skirmish lines successively reinforced 
from the main body, which they gradually absorbed in the course of the 
action. Here, too, the American soldier was fully six years in advance of 
the European warrior ; for it was not until the Germans had been warned by 
the terrific losses incurred in their earlier battles with the French, in 1870, 
that they evolved from their own experience a system of tactics, the essen- 
tial principles of which had already been demonstrated on the Western 
Continent. 

The increased range of artillery again received a practical illustration ; for 
at the siege of Fort Pulaski the Union batteries first opened fire at ranges 
varying from 1650 to 3400 yards from the Confederate fort. At the siege of 
Charleston shells were thrown into the city from a battery nearly five miles 
distant. 

In 1866, the brief but bloody war between Austria and Prussia suddenly 
raised the latter nation from a comparatively subordinate position to the 
front rank of military powers. The greatness of Prussia was born in the 
sackcloth and ashes of national humiliation. Forbidden by Napoleon, after 
her crushing defeat in 1806-7, to maintain an army of more than 40,000 
men, her great war minister, Scharnhorst, conceived the plan of discharging 
the soldiers from military service as soon as they had received the requisite 
instruction, and filling their places with recruits. In this way, though the 
standing army never exceeded the stipulated number, many thousands of 
Prussians received military training ; and when Prussia declared war against 
Napoleon, after his disastrous Eussian campaign, the discharged men were 
called back into the ranks, and there arose as if by magic a formidable Prus- 
sian army of trained soldiers. The principle of universal military service, 
thus called into existence in Prussia in time of war, had been continued 
through fifty years of peace, and enabled Prussia, with a population scarcely 
more than half as numerous as that of Austria, to place upon the decisive 
field of Koniggratz a larger army than that of her opponent. 

The Prussian system, which has since been copied by all the great military 
nations of Europe, is, in its essential features, as follows : Every able-bodied 
man in the kingdom, upon reaching the age of twenty years, is available for 
military service ; and each year there are chosen by lot sufficient recruits to 
maintain the army at its authorized strength. The great body of the male 
population is thus brought into military service. There are a few excep- 
tions, such as the only sons of indigent parents, and a small number of men 
who are in excess of the force required. Any man who escapes the draft for 
three successive years, and all able-bodied men exempted for any cause from 
service in the regular army, are incorporated in the reserve. The term of 
service in the regular army is two years for the infantry and three for the 
artillery and cavalry. After being discharged from the regular army the 
soldier passes into the reserve, where he serves for four years. While in 
the reserve, he is called out for two field exercises of eight weeks' duration 
each, and the rest of his time is available for his civil vocation. At the end 
of four years in the reserve he passes into the Landwehr, in which he is 
required to participate in only two field exercises of two weeks' duration each. 



THE CENTURY'S ARMIES AND ARMS 295 

After five years in the Landwehr proper, he passes into the second levy of 
the Landwehr, where he is free from all military duty in time of peace, 
though still liable to be called to arms in case of Avar. From the second 
levy of the Landwehr he passes, at the age of thirty-nine years, into the 
Landsturm, where he remains until he reaches his forty-fifth year, Avhen he 
is finally discharged from military duty. The soldier in the Landsturm is 
practically free from all military duty, for that body is never called out 
except in case of dire national emergency. By this system Prussia became 
not only a military power but '"a nation in arms." in the blaze of whose 
might the military glory of Austria and of France successively melted away 
in humiliating defeat. 

The careful military preparation of Prussia in time of peace was by no 
means limited to measures for providing an army strong in numbers. Every 
year her troops Avere assembled in large bodies for practice in the manoeuvres 
of the battlefield. This mimicry of war, at first lightly regarded by the mili- 
tary leaders of the other European nations, produced such wonderful effects 
in promoting the efficiency of the army that it has since been copied in all the 
armies of Europe, and is now regarded as the most important of all instruc- 
tion for war. 

Though breech-loading rifles were, as Ave have seen, used in the War of 
Secession, the Prussian army was the first that ever took the field completely 
armed with such weapons. The Prussian rifle was not new, for it had been 
invented by a Thuringian gunsmith, named Dreyse, about the time that the 
Minie rifle appeared. Dreyse's arm was known as the " zundnadelgewehr," 
or needle-gun, and its effect in the Austro-Prussian Avar was so decisive and 
startling as to cause muzzle-loading rifles everywhere to be relegated to the 
limbo of obsolete weapons. Yet the needle-gun was but a sorry weapon in 
comparison to those now in use, and was distinctly inferior to the Spencer 
carbine. Its breech mechanism was clumsy, it used a paper cartridge, it was 
not accurate beyond a range of three hundred yards, and its effective range 
was scarcely more than twice that distance. The German infantry fought in 
three ranks, and its tactics was not equal to that employed by the American 
infantry in the War of Secession. The Prussian field artillery wag the most 
formidable that had yet appeared, and consisted mainly of steel breech-load- 
ing rifled guns, which were classed as 6-pounders and 4-pounders, though the 
larger piece fired a shell weighing fifteen pounds, and the smaller projectile 
used a shell weighing nine pounds. In the Austrian army the infantry was 
armed with a muzzle-loading rifle, and the artillery consisted entirely of 
muzzle-loading rifled guns. 

The exalted military prestige gained by Prussia rendered it certain that 
she must soon enter the lists in a contest with France, whose commanding 
position in Europe was so seriously menaced by the rise of the new power. 
Foreseeing the inevitable conflict, Napoleon III. endeavored to prepare for a 
serious struggle. The French infantry was armed with the Chassepot rifle, 
which had an effective range nearly double that of the needle-gun. A 
machine gun. known as the mitrailleuse, Avas also introduced into the French 
army. Much was expected of these new arms ; but so superior was the 
organization, readiness, generalship, and tactical skill of the Prussians that 
the war Avas a practically unbroken series of victories for Prussia and the 



296 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX" 1 CENTURY 

allied German States. Profiting b}^ their experience in the course of the con- 
flict, the Prussians formed their infantry for attack in three lines ; the first 
consisting of skirmishers, the second of supports, either deployed or in small 
columns, and the third of a reserve, generally held in column until it came 
under such fire as to render deployment necessary. The skirmishers were 
constantly reinforced from the supports, and finally from the reserve as the 
attack progressed, the whole force being united in a heavy line, and opening 
the hottest possible fire when close enough to the enemy for the final charge. 
In its essential principles this attack formation is in use at the present day 
in the armies of all civilized nations. The Prussian artillery was handled 
with terrible effect both in battle and siege. A new demonstration of the 
increased power of artillery was given in the siege of Paris, in which shells 
were thrown from the heights of Clamart to the Pantheon, a distance of five 
miles. 

The next European war was the contest between Russia and Turkey, in 
1877. In this conflict the American system of hasty intrenchments was used 
with success by the Turks, who were also armed with an American rifle, the 
Peabody, which enabled them to inflict serious losses upon the Russians at 
a range of a mile and a quarter. Owing to the Turkish intrenchments and 
the inferiority of their own arms, the Russians won their victories over much 
smaller armies only with a gruesome loss of life. A further impetus was 
given to the development of the infantry rifle, and the German tactical expe- 
rience was confirmed by the Russian General Skobeleff in the declaration 
that infantry can successfully assault only in a succession of skirmish lines. 

The war in Turkey was the last great Furopean conflict. Subsequent cam- 
paigns of the Russians in Central Asia, of the English in Egypt, the Soudan, 
and India, of the Japanese in China, of the Turks in Greece, and the Ameri- 
cans in Cuba, have emphasized the lessons already taught, and demonstrated 
the increased power of new weapons. 

Having taken a retrospective view of the military forces and weapons 
employed in the wars of the nineteenth century, let us now turn to a con- 
sideration of the armies and arms of the present day. The adoption of the 
system of universal military service has increased the size of the standing 
armies of the nations of Europe far beyond the proportionate increase of 
their respective populations. In round numbers, the strength of the armies 
of the great powers is as follows : Russia, 869,000 ; Germany, 585,000 ; 
Prance, 618,000 ; Austria, 306,000 ; Italy, 231,000 ; Great Britain, 222,00c. 1 
Not only are the standing armies greater than in the early days of the cen- 
tury, but, owing to the improved methods of transportation and supply, the 
forces now brought upon the field of battle are vastly larger than in the days 
of Napoleon. The French army at Marengo was less than 30,000 strong. 
At Austerlitz it was only 70,000, which was its strength also at Waterloo. 
In only two battles, Wagram and Leipsic. was Napoleon able to place 150,000 
men on the field; and in the latter battle the armies of all Europe opposed 
to him numbered only 280,000. In more recent times Prussia alone placed 
upon the field of Koniggratz 223.000 men with which to oppose the Austrian 
army of 206,000 ; and at Gravelotte the great French army of 180,000 men 

1 These numbers give the peace strength of the armies. In time of war they can easily be quad- 
rupled. 



THE CENTURY'S ARMIES AND ARMS 297 

was outnumbered by the German host of 270,000. It is probable that in the 
next great European war more than a million men will be found contending 
on a single battlefield. A detailed description of the armies of all the great 
powers would prove wearisome to the reader, for their points of resemblance 
are many and their general characteristics are the same. The German army 
may be taken as the most perfect specimen of a highly organized military 
force, and a description of its organization would answer with slight modifi- 
cation for the other armies of Continental Europe. 

The infantry of the German army is organized in companies of 250 men 
each. Four companies constitute a battalion, and three battalions compose 
a regiment. The brigade consists of two regiments, and the division is com- 
posed of two brigades of infantry, four batteries of artillery, and a regiment 
of cavalry. The army corps consists of two divisions, a body of corps artil- 
lery composed of twelve batteries, a battalion of engineers, and a supply 
train. In round numbers, the fighting strength of the army corps consists 
of 30,000 men and 120 guns. The cavalry is organized in squadrons of 150 
sabres each, five squadrons forming a regiment, only four of which are em- 
ployed in the field, the fifth remaining at the regimental depot. The cavalry 
brigade consists of three regiments ; and the cavalry division, which is com- 
posed of two brigades, aggregates oOOO sabres. Thus a small part of the 
cavalry force is attached to the infantry divisions, while the bulk of it is 
organized into divisions composed of mounted troops alone, two batteries of 
horse artillery being attached to each cavalry division. The entire military 
force is divided into " armies," each consisting of from three to six army 
corps and two or more cavalry divisions. The cavalry has about one sixth 
and the artillery about one seventh of the numerical strength of the infantry. 
The German cavalry is armed with sabre, carbine, and lance. The officers 
carry the sabre and revolver. 

In the army of the United States the organization differs in many respects 
from that of the German army. The infantry companies each consist of 106 
men, including officers. Twelve companies form a regiment, and three regi- 
ments constitute a brigade. A division is composed of three brigades, and 
the army corps is made up of three divisions. The number of batteries 
assigned to the divisions varies, as also the amount of corps artillery. In 
the army operating in Cuba, the artillery was all in a separate organization, 
and was distributed to the divisions only on the eve of battle. Experience 
and theory alike suggest four batteries for each division and eight batteries 
for the corps artillery. No cavalry is assigned to the divisions, but a regi- 
ment is supposed to be assigned to each army corps. The main force of the 
cavalry is grouped together into cavalry divisions. The cavalry is organized 
into troops of 100 sabres, four troops forming a squadron, and three squad- 
rons constituting a regiment. Three regiments form a brigade, and three 
brigades a division. The American cavalry brigade is thus of the same size 
as a Prussian cavalry division. The cavalry is armed with the sabre, carbine, 
and revolver. The lance is unknown in the American army. 

Having viewed the composition of modern armies, let us now see how they 
are armed. A consideration of the powder now in use is a necessary preface 
to a description of the weapons employed in the warfare of the present day. 
The old fine-grained black powder familiar to every boy who has ever han- 




298 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

died a shotgun has passed completely out of military use. The powders now 
employed usually have guncotton or nitroglycerine and guncotton for a base. 
They are practically smokeless, the product of their combustion is almost 
entirely gaseous, they leave no solid residuum, and are of the quality known 
as "slow-burning," giving a constantly increasing pressure on the projectile 
from the moment of ignition to the time when it leaves the muzzle of the 
piece. These powders are manufactured in thin sheets ^or small tubes or 

cords, which, for small arms, are broken up into 
grains. They vary in color from light yellow to 
black. 

Before the adoption of smokeless powder, the 
cake powder invented by General Rodman had 
been highly developed and improved in the form 
of " cocoa powder." This was made in hexagonal 
prisms, each perforated longitudinally, so as to 
have a hollow core. These grains were carefully 
arranged in the cartridges so as to have this core 
continuous from one grain to another, in order 
that upon ignition the combustion would begin in the interior and produce 
a constantly increasing volume of gas as the exterior surface of the grain 
was reached. Though the time of combustion was too rapid to be appre- 
ciated by the ordinary senses, it was, nevertheless, quite different from 
the practically instantaneous combustion of the old small-grain powder, and 
was susceptible of accurate measurement. Much difficulty was experienced 
in overcoming the detonating tendencies of the smokeless powders, but at 
last the requisite slow-burning properties were obtained. The smokeless 
powder for large guns is made in cartridges composed of bundles Of strips 
or cords, or in the same prismatic form as the cocoa powder, and the process 
of combustion is the same. 

The form of the gun is dependent entirely upon the nature of the powder 
used. As the pressure of the gas constantly increases with the burning of 
the powder, the maximum force will be reached at the moment the com- 
bustion is complete. The length of the bore should, therefore, be just 
sufficient to enable the powder to be entirely consumed at the exact instant 
the projectile leaves the muzzle of the piece. A shorter bore would cause 
much of the powder to be thrown out unconsumed, while a much greater 
length would retard the projectile by subjecting it to the friction of the 
bore after the maximum force of the powder had been reached. This ac- 
counts for the greatly increased length of the modern cannon. A change 
in the method of gun construction has accordingly become necessary. ■ Guns 
are no longer made of cast iron, but are "built up" of steel. The explo- 
sion of the powder is, of course, exerted in every direction, against the 
bore and sides of the piece as well as against the base of the projectile. 
This produces two strains; a longitudinal strain which is exerted in the 
direction of the axis of the piece, and a transverse strain which tends to 
burst the gun. It is necessary, therefore, to have the piece so strong, 
especially at the points of first explosion, as to counteract these strains, 
and thus cause the entire force to be exerted upon the projectile in the 
direction of the " least resistance." This strength, or " initial tension," is 



300 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 

obtained by shrinking cylinders of steel over the original cylinder of the 
piece, each outer cylinder or jacket being a few thousandths of an inch 
smaller in its interior diameter than the outer diameter of the cylinder 
which it incloses, and being expanded by heating to a sufficient degree to 
enable it to be slipped over the latter. Upon cooling, the jacket exerts a 
constant and powerful force of compression, which counteracts the outward 
pressure of the force of explosion. The longitudinal strain is less dan- 
gerous than the other, and is usually counteracted by an interlocking of 
some of the cylinders or hoops, to which the strain is transmitted from 
the breech-plug. The art of building up guns has been of slow growth, 
the first efforts in this direction having been made by Sir W. G. Armstrong 
nearly half a century ago. The weight of the projectile of the present 
16-inch gun in the United States service is 2370 pounds; the charge of 
powder weighs 1060 pounds, and the extreme range is more than 14 miles. 
The cost of each shot is $450, and when we consider that this does not 
include the wear and tear of the gun, it is evident that money has become 
more than ever before "the sinews of war.'' 

Not less remarkable than the improvement in cannon is the improvement 
in mortars. These mortars are very unlike the clumsy weapons of that name 
manipulated by hand-spikes, which were known in our great war. They are 
now mounted on a platform which turns on rollers. They are elevated 
or depressed by a mechanical appliance, are loaded at the breech, are accu- 
rately rifled, and can drop their projectiles on the decks of hostile vessels at 
a range of six miles. They are placed in groups of four, each in a separate 
pit, some batteries containing as many as four groups, or sixteen mortars. In 
all important sea-coast batteries both guns and mortars are so arranged as to 
be fired by electricity, either singly or in volleys. 

A dynamite gun has been devised by Captain Zalinsky for the purpose, as 
the name implies, of throwing a projectile containing dynamite. Attempts to 
fire dynamite projectiles by means of powder have thus far failed. In the 
Zalinsky gun the propelling power is compressed air. The projectile con- 
tains from fifty to sixty pounds of gelatine dynamite, the explosion of which 
is terrific. Excellent results have been obtained with Zalinsky 's gun up to a 
range of 2000 yards, but as this is insignificant in comparison with the enor- 
mous range of high-power cannon using powder as a charge, the dynamite 
gun is still a weapon of limited usefulness. Although the dynamite gun has 
not as yet fulfilled the desired requirements as to range, promising experi- 
ments have been made in firing shells charged with high explosives from mor- 
tars using charges of powder, and it is probably a question of only a short 
time before means will be found for successfully firing dynamite in a similar 
manner. 

The great improvements in field artillery make the cannon of the early 
battlefields of the century seem, in comparison, almost like harmless toys. 
The modern field gun is made of steel, is rifled, loads at the breech, and has 
great rapidity and accuracy of fire. The extreme range of the 3.2-inch field 
gun in the United States service is about four miles. This, in fact, is beyond 
the ordinary range of human vision, and it is but rarely that the ground for 
so great a distance is free from features that obstruct the view. For these 
reasons the fire of field guns can seldom be utilized beyond a range of two miles. 



THE CENTURY'S ARMIES AND ARMS 



301 



The projectile of the 3.2-inch field gun weighs 13* pounds, and the charge 
of powder 31 pounds. The 3.6-inch gun is a still more powerful weapon, 
the weight of the projectile and charge being 20 and 4^ pounds respectively. 
Shells are used against inanimate objects, such as earthworks or buildings ; 
but the great artillery projectile for the battlefield is shrapnel. It is now 
very different from the crude projectile known by the same name in the early 
years of the century. The bullets are assembled in circular layers and held 
in position by " separators," which are short cast-iron cylinders with hemi- 
spherical cavities into which the bullets fit. The bottom separator fits by 
means of lugs into recesses at the base of the shrapnel, and prevents inde- 
pendent rotation of the charge of bullets. The top separator is smooth on 
its upper side, and is kept firmly in place by the head of the projectile, 
which screws against it. The separators prevent movement or deformation 
of the bullets under shock of discharge, and being weakened by radial cuts, 
increase the effect by furnishing additional fragments of effective weight. 




MODERN SHRAPNEL. 



The shrapnel for the 3.2-inch gun contains 162 bullets one half inch in 
■diameter and weighing 41 to the pound. The total number of bullets and 
individual pieces in the shrapnel is 201. 

The heavy sea-coast guns are now mounted either in armored turrets, en 
barbette, or on disappearing gun-carriages. The first system is very costly 
and is not generally used in the United States. The second system, in which 
the guns are fired over a parapet and are constantly exposed, is used only 
in rare cases. The third has been perfected in the United States in the 
Buffington-Crozier and the Gordon disappearing gun-carriages. These car- 
riages enable the gun to be loaded in safety under cover of the carriage pit, 
and then to be raised by means of counterweights or compressed air to a posi- 
tion from which it can fire over the parapet. With trained cannoneers, the 
gun can be raised and fired in twenty seconds, and this brief period of expo- 
sure, especially when smokeless powder is used, renders it almost impossible 
for the enemy to locate the gun with any degree of accuracy. The shock of 
the recoil, taken up by pneumatic or hydraulic cylinders, brings the piece 
back, quickly but gently, to the loading position, whence it is again raised for 
firing. 

The siege artillery of the United States army consists of the 5-inch gun, 
the 7-inch howitzer, and the 7-inch mortar. They all use shell, and their 
effective range is from three to four miles. 



302 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



When the enemy is sheltered behind entrenchments it is difficult to reach 
him with shrapnel fired from field guns. Field mortars have accordingly 
been devised for this purpose and have given excellent results. The United 
States 3.6-inch field mortar is rifled, and carries a shrapnel weighing twenty 
pounds. The weight of the field mortar is only 500 pounds, and it can be 
easily carried in a cart drawn by a single mule. 

But great as the improvements have been in artillery, they are less impor- 
tant than the changes effected in the infantry rifle ; for upon the quality of 
the infantry depends, more than upon anything else, the efficiency of an 
army. There are many kinds of rifles now in use in the different armies of 
the world, but in their essential principles they are very similar. All use 
smokeless powder, and all are provided with a magazine which admits of 
firing a number of shots without reloading. The Springfield rifle formerly 
in use in the United States army has been replaced by the Krag-Jorgen- 
sen, which has a magazine holding five cartridges, and is provided with a 
cut-off which enables the piece to be used as a single-shooter. When an 




KRAG-JORGENSEN RIFLE. 



emergency demands rapid fire, the opening of the cut-off enables the car- 
tridges in the magazine to be fired in rapid succession. The range of the 
Krag-Jorgensen is 4066 yards, being practically equal to that of the Mauser, 
which, in the hands of the Spaniards, inflicted casualties upon our men 
when they were more than two miles from the hostile position. The dif- 
ference in the penetrating power of the Krag-Jorgensen and the Springfield 
is shown in the accompanying illustration, taken from the report of the 
chief of ordnance for 1893. The Springfield lead bullet was fired with 69 
grains of black powder, and penetrated 3.3 inches of poorly seasoned oak, the 
bullet being badly deformed. With a bullet covered with a German silver 
jacket the penetration was 5.3 inches, the bullet being again deformed. 
The Krag-Jorgensen used a bullet consisting of a lead core and a cupro- 
nickeled jacket, which was fired with 37 grains of smokeless powder. The 
bullet penetrated well-seasoned oak to a distance of 24.2 inches and was 
taken out in perfect condition. The new rifle, at short ranges, has an 
almost explosive effect and produces a shocking wound ; but at ordinary 
ranges the wounds inflicted by it may be almost characterized as merciful, 
for the bullet makes a clean puncture, and unless a vital organ is struck 
the wound heals easily and quickly. The old expression of "forty rounds," 
so familiar to veterans of the Civil War, is now obsolete ; for no soldier 
now thinks of going into action with less than 150 cartridges on his 
person. Not only is the firing more rapid than was formerly the case,. 



—■_•■- 






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sg^gg 



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304 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



but the lighter weight of the cartridge enables a greater number to be 
carried. 

From the rifle to the Gatling gun is only a step, for the latter is essentially 
a collection of rifle barrels fired by machinery. It consists of a number — 
generally ten — of rifle barrels grouped around, and parallel to, a central 
shaft, each barrel being provided with a lock. By turning a crank at the 
breech, the barrels and locks are made to revolve together around the shaft, 




GATLING GUN. 



the locks having also a forward and backward motion, the first of which 
inserts the cartridge into the barrel and closes the breech at the time of the 
discharge, while the latter extracts the cartridge after firing. Upon the gun, 
near the breech, is a hopper which receives the cartridges from the feed case. 
The cartridge falls from the hopper into the breech-block of the uppermost 
barrel, and in the course of the first half-revolution of the barrel it is inserted, 
the hammer is drawn back, and at the lowest point of the revolution the 
breech is closed and the cartridge is fired. As the barrel comes up in the 
second half -re volution the cartridge shell is extracted, and when the barrel 
reaches the top it receives another cartridge. The Gatling gun can be fired 
at the rate of 1000 to 1500 shots a minute. It generally uses the same car- 



THE CENTURY'S ARMIES AND ARMS 



305 



tridge as the infantry rifle ; but some patterns of the gun fire a projectile an 
inch in diameter, and approximate closely in their effect to a field gun. 
The gun is mounted either on a carriage similar to that of a field-piece or 
on a tripod. Gatling guns were very successfully used by the British in the 
Zulu War and in the Soudan, and by our own troops in the battles around 
Santiago. 

The Gardner is a lighter machine gun than the Gatling. It consists of two 
parallel rifle barrels, and is operated by means of mechanism at the breech, 
which, as in the case of the Gatling, is worked with a crank. It can fire 
500 shots a minute without danger of overheating, as the breeches are en- 




NOHDENFRLT RAPID FIRE GUN. 



closed in a metallic water-jacket. Its extreme portability makes it a most 
valuable weapon, though its firing capacity is not equal to that of the 
Gatling. 

There are several other types of machine guns, but the most ingenious, and 
perhaps the most effective, is the Maxim automatic gun. This has a single 
barrel, about two thirds of which, from the muzzle towards the breech, is sur- 
rounded by a water-jacket into which water is automatically injected at each 
discharge, thus rendering overheating impossible. The mechanism for oper- 
ating the gun is at the breech, covering the remaining third of the barrel. 
All that is necessary is to draw back the trigger to fire the first shot ; the 
recoil of the piece again cocks it, and the gun is then automatically fired, the 
process being kept up until the cartridges in the feed-belt are all expended. 
The cartridges are fed to the piece by means of belts holding 333 rounds, two 
or more of the belts being joined together if desired. The Maxim gun can 
easily fire ten shots a second, and if every man at the piece were killed the 
moment the first shot was fired the gun would keep on until it fired at least 
332 more shots. 20 



306 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

The Gatling, Gardner, Maxim, and similar guns are known as machine 
guns. Of the same general family, so to speak, are rapid-fire guns, which are, 
however, distinguished from machine guns by having a larger calibre, loading 
by hand, having only one barrel, and being provided with artificial means of 
checking recoil and returning the piece to the firing position. They use 
metallic ammunition, and have a breech mechanism which cocks the firing 
pin and extracts the empty case by the same motion which opens the breech 
for reloading. 

Rapid-firing guns were first designed as a means of naval defense against 
torpedo boats. They deliver a rapid and easily aimed fire, and use projectiles 
of sufficient power to penetrate the plates of the boats. In the naval service 
the gun is mounted on a spring return carriage fixed to the vessel, so that the 
piece, when discharged, is brought back to the firing position without any 
derangement of aim. On land a rigid carriage is used. This carriage has a 
spade at the end of the trail, which is forced into the ground by the recoil 
and holds the gun and carriage in place. The principal rapid-fire guns are 
the Hotchkiss, Driggs-Schroeder, Nordenfelt, Krupp, Canet, and Armstrong, 
which fire from five to ten shots a minute, and use either shell or shrapnel. 
Experiments are now being made in different armies with a view to adopting 
rapid-fire guns for field artillery. 

The principle of rapid fire, or " quick fire," has been successfully applied 
to guns having a caliber as great as six inches. The metallic cartridge used 
in rapid-fire guns is, in appearance, simply a "big brother" of the cartridge 
used in the infantry rifle. 

Closely allied with guns, both in coast defense and in naval warfare, are 
torpedoes. The crude weapons of this type, used in the War of Secession, 
have been developed into formidable engines of war, before whose destruc- 
tive power the strongest vessels are helpless. For their classification and 
description see " The Century's Naval Progress," pages 84, 85. 

The destructive power of torpedoes is so well known as to give them a 
great moral weight as a means of defense. The fact that the German har- 
bors on the Baltic were known to be protected by torpedoes saved them from 
an attack by the French navy in 1870-71, and Cervera's fleet in the harbor 
of Santiago, in 1898, was safe from our squadron so long as the mouth of the 
channel was closed with Spanish torpedoes. 

Though necessarily brief, the foregoing sketch will show that in the course 
of the nineteenth century armies have increased enormously in size, and 
in the power of rapid movement and certainty of supply. Infantry has 
increased in relative numbers and in importance. Extended order fighting, 
in which the individuality of the soldier comes into play, has taken the place 
of the old rigid shoulder-to-shoulder line of battle. The private soldier's 
vocation has risen, in many branches of the military service, from a trade to 
a profession, and now, more than ever before, is extensive training and a high 
order of intellect necessary for the command of armies. Wars have become 
shorter, sharper, more decisive and more terrible; and increased emphasis 
has been placed upon the warning, " In time of peace prepare for war." 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN AGRICULTURE 

By WALDO F. BROWN, 

Agricultural Editor "Cincinnati Gazette," 

I. VICISSITUDES OF EARLY FARMING. 

If the thought enters the mind of the reader that a youth (?) of sixty- 
seven is not competent to write upon agricultural improvement for the 
entire century, the answer is that such improvement can scarcely be said 
to have begun until near the middle of the century ; that the early forties 
saw the writer at work on a farm ; that he has ever since lived on a farm j 
and that he, therefore, writes from personal experience of the improve- 
ments which have transformed agriculture from a simple art to a profound 
science. 

To realize the progress agriculture has made, we must understand its 
condition in the first half of the century, and the causes which prevented 
improvement at that time. The soil was rich with the accumulations of 
centuries, and the farmer was at no expense to either maintain or restore 
fertility, for with but indifferent cultivation large crops could be raised. 
When a field became impoverished, with axe and torch a new field was soon 
cleared from the forest. The implements in use were of the crudest and 
mostly manufactured by the nearest blacksmith, and it cost but a few dol- 
lars to equip a farm ; still they were sufficient for the wants of the farmer 
of that date. So it will be seen that the difficulty was not in the farm 
nor with the farmer; for he could grow not only all that was necessary 
for family use, but more than enough to supply the demand for such market 
as he had. Perhaps the greatest difficulty in the way of agricultural pro- 
gress was the want of transportation facilities ; for a market was of little 
use to a farmer if he was separated from it by a hundred miles or more of 
roads which, through almost the entire winter, were so deep with mud that 
modern farmers would think them utterly impassable, with streams un- 
bridged and hills ungraded. The first step toward relieving the farmer of 
this trouble was John Quincy Adams' message to Congress in 1827, when he 
recommended the construction of the National Koad, the eastern terminus 
of which was to be in Maryland and the western at St. Louis, Mo. This 
road was constructed within a few years. It was the first outlet for the 
crops of the great West, and over it, across the Alleghany Mountains, a 
procession of covered wagons passed during the entire year, carrying the 
products of the farms to the Eastern markets and bringing back manufac- 
tured goods. One other avenue was opened for the interchange of products 
between these two sections, the Erie Canal being completed in 1825, and 
enlarged and improved many years later. 

During the thirties, just preceding the era of railroads, there was almost a 
craze on the subject of canal building, and scores of miles of canals were 
begun which were never completed, as with the beginning of the fourth de- 
cade of the century the railroad idea had taken possession of the minds of the 



308 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

people. In some cases the tow-path of the canal formed the roadbed for the 
railroad which superseded it, and probably more lines of canal were abandoned 
than were completed. The era of railroads — that wonderful factor which 
was to revolutionize farming — dates from about 1830. The first locomotive 
in the United states was imported from England and placed upon the rails in 
1829, and in 1830 the first American locomotive was built. It was, however, 
very near the middle of the century before the system of railroads had been 
completed so as to materially improve the condition of agriculture ; and 
although the fact may sound strange to some, the first railroad train ran into 
Chicago in 1852. During these years of depressed agriculture, however, the 
population of the country was rapidly increasing. 

While the railroad system of the country was developing, turnpikes were 
being built radiating from the principal markets and railroad stations. With 
the beginning of the second half of the century the farmers awoke to the fact 
that the United States was a large and populous nation, requiring an immense 
amount of supplies, and that improvements for transportation had been fur- 
nished so that the markets were easily accessible. Before passing, however? 
from the discouragements and difficulties of agriculture in the early days, 
some practical illustrations of the difficulties met with seem necessary to give 
a clear understanding of the condition. What would the farmer of to-day 
think were he obliged to start with a load of wheat in midwinter over roads 
which crossed unbridged streams and wound over clay hills, not a rod of 
which was macadamized and all of which were poorly graded, spending ten 
days with a four-horse team to make a round trip of one hundred miles with 
thirty-five bushels of wheat, and sell it in the market for 35 cents a bushel ? 
Yet such was the fact which the writer had from the lips of a farmer 
who had been through this experience. Two thoughts may occur to the 
reader — first, that thirty-five bushels was a light load for a four-horse team, 
and, second, that hotel bills would more than absorb the money received from 
such a load of wheat. But both of these are explained by saying that one 
cause of the lightness of the load was that the farmer must carry feed for his 
team for the entire trip, and another, the uncertainty of the condition of the 
roads ; for though he might start with the roads frozen solid and possibly 
worn smooth by the teams which had preceded him, he was liable on the trip 
to meet with a sudden thaw which reduced the roadbed to mortar, so that the 
wheels would sink almost to the axle, and in many cases the load would be 
found too heavy for his team. It was no uncommon sight to see a score of 
places to the mile where the fences had been torn down and rails carried into 
the middle of the road to be used in prying the wagons out of the mud when 
hopelessly mired. The reason the hotel bills did not consume the proceeds 
of the load was that there were none ; for the farmer carried his camp kettle, 
bedding, and provisions with him, and slept in the wagon during his entire 
trip. The same farmer referred to, in telling his story, said that all the 
money spent on the ten days' trip was three "tips " (18| cents), and that, pre- 
sumably, was for three " nips " of whiskey. 

An interesting personal experience in the winter of 1846-47 was in driving 
hogs from Anderson, Ind., to Cincinnati, Ohio, a distance of about 150 miles. 
The drove was started with the mercury at zero, and the first difficulty met was 
in getting them across White Kiver, as there was no bridge and the stream 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN AGRICULTURE 309 

must be forded. The hogs absolutely refused to euter the icy water, but 
the pioneer of that day was equal to any emergency. The drove was soon 
huddled on the bank, rails were carried from an adjoining field, and a close 
pen was built around them ; then two plucky frontiersmen, with thick leg- 
gings reaching from ankle to hips, towed them by the ears to frozen shoal 
water in the centre of the river, and pushed them across the ice, when they 
were obliged to go ashore on the other side. Two days later a sudden and 
unexpected thaw set in, when for one hundred weary miles the drivers urged 
the hogs through mud which reached from fence to fence, and which was so 
fluid that not a trace was left behind, as it flowed in to fill not only the track 
of the hogs but the footsteps of the drivers. When after clays of urging the 
hogs began to lose strength and fall by the way, they settled down into the 
ooze, from which the men must lift them into wagons which accompanied the 




SOIL PULVERIZER. 



drove or were hired from farmers along the road. When Cincinnati was 
reached it seemed that the worst trouble of the journey was over ; but not 
so, for the climax of disaster with this drove was reached at the slaughter- 
house, when for two weeks the weather was so warm that no slaughtering 
could be done, and the price of pork declined day by day, until the entire 
drove was finally sold at one and three quarters cents per pound dressed 
weight — and during the entire time, both on the road and in the pens, the 
hogs had been losing rapidly in weight every day. This was the lowest price 
recalled for hogs ; but it was very common to have a glut in the market of 
some staple which reduced the price so low that it scarcely paid for transpor- 
tation, and in some cases made it actually unsalable. 

A neighbor relates that when he was a boy, needing some money, his father 
made him the offer that he might have all the corn that he would shell, take 
to mill, and market the meal in Cincinnati, forty miles distant. He went to 
work with a will, prepared a two-horse load, and reached Cincinnati with it 
safely, only to find the market glutted so that he could not get an offer on it. 
A part of it was finally sold at 10 cents per bushel, and the remainder was 
taken home. 



310 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

During the closing years of the fifth decade the prices of stock were at the 
lowest, good dairy cows bringing from $7 to $9 per head; yearling calves 
from $1 to $2 ; the very best horses, $40, and stock hogs selling for $1 or $2 
each. At the same time many of the necessities of life were sold at exorbi- 
tant prices, and an examination of an old account book shows the following 
figures : Salt, $4 per barrel ; nails, 6 to 8 cents per pound ; calico, 12£ cents 
per yard ; drilling, 25 cents per yard ; clocks, $40 each (the value of the 
best horses !). 

Some other facts must be taken into consideration to understand why the 
farmers did not attempt improved methods. One was the condition of the 
currency. The United States Bank, which it would seem should have afforded 
security and stability to the currency, had been wrecked by the action of 
Andrew Jackson in vetoing its rechartering and withdrawing the United 
States funds (at that date about $43,000,000) from it ; and private banks had 
been established over the entire west and south, a system of what was then 
known as " wild cat " banks supplying the people with currency. The man 
who was trading needed to carry in his pocket at all times a "bank detector," 
to which he might refer to ascertain how many cents on the dollar the issue 
of each bank was worth. 

Looking back at the condition of affairs as described, remembering how 
few the markets, how easily glutted, how unstable the currency, and all the 
uncertainties connected with the disposal of the farmer's products, what was 
there to stimulate him to improve his methods or increase his products ? If, 
as was occasionally the case, the farmer determined to improve his stock, he 
must import from England or buy at high prices from an importer, and there 
being no express companies to deliver his stock, he must either go in person 
or trust to private individuals to drive them over the mountains or, if small 
stock, to bring them in wagons the entire distance. 

He could not afford to carry on a wide correspondence, for each indi- 
vidual letter cost twenty-five cents postage, if the distance was over three 
hundred miles. It was not until 1845 that postage was reduced to ten 
cents, and ten years later it was reduced to three cents for letters of half 
an ounce. 

If any one is inclined to throw the blame upon the farmers for not having 
done their part to improve agriculture and bring prosperity, he should con- 
sider the conditions under which they had lived for a generation ; the uncer- 
tain markets ; the low prices of products ; that they must construct roads and 
bridges, build schoolhouses and churches, clear the farms, nearly all of which 
were covered with heavy timber ; and the fact that all this work was done 
with the crudest implements. It will be seen that the farmers had been 
accomplishing wonders and were worthy of the highest praise rather than 
blame. 

With the beginning of the last half of the century, the farmers suddenly 
awoke to the fact that the conditions had become wonderfully favorable. 
Towns and cities were growing up on every hand, offering new markets. 
Eailroads and other means of transportation were opening to them. Inven- 
tive genius had taken up the improvement of implements of agriculture, and, 
best of all, prices had advanced greatly for all the leading products. The 
improvements of methods in farming, which have not been less than those in 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN AGRICULTURE 



311 



manufacturing and other callings, date from this time, and will be described 
under the following heads : Improvements in implements ; in stock ; in drain- 
age and tillage ; in the maintaining and increasing of fertility ; in care and 
feeding of stock ; in and around the farmer's home ; and education, which 
includes agricultural literature, farmer's organizations, and schools. 

II. IMPROVEMENTS IN FARM IMPLEMENTS AND MACHINERY. 

In writing on the improvements in agriculture one can scarcely fail to be 
impressed with the fact that whenever the human race comes to the point 
that it must have help and make a demand upon nature, she always honors 
the draft ; and as the steps are portrayed by which the agricultural products 
of this continent have been increased a hundred fold, while the power of 
the individual worker has increased wonderfully, and the labor has been 
lightened by machinery, we can see that these inventions and improvements 




THE COLUMBIA HARVESTER AND BINDER. 



-came just as fast as they were needed, and no faster. God has given to the 
human mind such power, and to the hands such skill, that whatever is neces- 
sary is soon provided when the want is made known. Perhaps there is no 
better way in which this can be traced than in the apj:>liances by which the 
farmer feeds the world. It is an interesting study to note the successive 
steps in the improvement of implements for the work of the farm. In the 
beginning of the century the sickle and flail were all that were needed to cut 
and thresh the grain ; and it was by a series of steps that the steam thresher 
and the combined mower and binder were evolved. The sickle was all that 
was needed until population increased and markets were made accessible ; 
then the cradle was invented. With the former, an expert could cut an acre 
a, day, and with the latter four or more acres ; but all the work was done by 
human muscle. The man using a sickle must work with bended back all 
day. The cradle enabled him to work erect, and lightened the labor ; but 
when the "Reaper sickle" was invented the labor was transferred to brute 
muscle. The first machines were clumsy and heavy to draw, requiring as 



312 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



much, or more, power to cut the grain as to cut and bind, it with the light 
running modern binder. Now, the man who sweltered with bended back ten 
or twelve hours to cut an acre of grain with the sickle " drives his team 
afield/ 5 and by simply guiding it cuts and binds ten or fifteen acres a day, 
and carries the bundles to the shock row. 

The improvement in threshing machinery has been as marked as in that 
for harvesting the grain. In the first part of the century all the work was 
done with the flail, and on farms where a large amount of grain was grown 
it kept a man busy a good part of the winter to thresh it. The first improve- 
ment was in threshing the grain by tramping it out with horses, and with 
two men and four horses, under the most favorable conditions, from fifty to 
one hundred bushels could be threshed in a day. But by both these methods 
there was the disadvantage that in all damp weather the work must be 
stopped, as the grain would become so tough that it could not be threshed. 



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IMPROVED THRESHER WITH BLOWER AND SELF-FEEDER. 



Another disadvantage of these methods was that it took a long time to pre- 
pare the crop for market, and in case of a sudden rise in price the farmer 
could not take advantage of it as he now can when his grain is all threshed 
in a single day and held in the granary for sale. In the thirties, the first 
threshing machines were put in use, and were but little improvement over 
the method of tramping with horses. The machines were of small capacity, 
and simply threshed the grain, but did not separate it from the straw and 
chaff, both of which operations had to be done by hand ; and if the straw 
was to be saved, either in the barn or in a stack, it had to be all handled 
with rakes and forks. The first threshing machine that the writer ever saw 
was one that was called "The Traveller." This was followed by machines run 
by stationary horse-power. These were called " chaff pilers," from the fact 
that they threshed the wheat but did not separate it from the straw or chaff. 
The first horse-powers were inclined planes, or endless chain powers, as they 
were called, and were run by the weight of the horses, the floor revolving- 
under their weight as they attempted to go up the grade. These were soon 
superseded by lever powers, made at first for two or four horses, but after- 
ward increased in size and power until ten or twelve horses were used; and 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN AGRICULTURE 3ia 

about this time the machinery for separating the grain and chaff was added 
to the machine. It almost seemed to the farmers at this time that per- 
fection had been reached when two or three hundred bushels could be 
threshed in a day and also cleaned; but the feeding of this large num- 
ber of horses was a heavy tax upon the farmers, particularly when a rainy 
day would intervene before the job was finished, and they were obliged 
to keep the horses two or three days. The invention and introduction of the 
mounted steam-engine not only saved the farmer from this expense, but 
also increased the power and doubled the daily capacity of the machine. 
For a short time the farmers were satisfied with this ; but the engine was 
heavy, and often the farmers' teams were light, and as it was the rule that 
each man must draw the engine from his farm to where the next job was to 
be done, and often the distance was great and the roads bad, it was not long 
until he tired of this. Then came the traction engine, which not only trans- 
ported itself but also drew the thresher and separator. About this time 




AUTOMATIC MOUNTED STACKER WITH FOLDING ATTACHMENT. 

another difficulty arose ; for now that the machine had been improved and 
the power increased so that under favorable conditions a thousand bushels 
could be threshed in a day, the handling of the straw became a serious 
problem, for it was impossible to build it in a stack suitable for keeping as 
fast as the machine would deliver it. The first step to lighten and expedite 
this labor was in adding a straw carrier, a kind of revolving platform, which 
was attached to the separator and would lift the straw some twelve or fifteen 
feet. For a year or two the farmers were satisfied with this help, but soon 
found that it was inadequate for the work. Then the stacker was invented, 
a separate machine which was backed under the straw carrier to receive the 
straw, and which had, mounted on wheels, an elevator which would carry the 
straw to a height of twenty-five or thirty feet ; and not only could it do this, 
but it was the work of a moment, with a crank at its base, to raise it, and it 
could be run at any angle. When the machine first started, the straw carrier 
was placed horizontally, and as the stack grew in height, it was raised until 
in the finishing out of the stack it stood at an angle of forty-five degrees or 
more. The straw carrier could not only be raised, but by an ingenious 
arrangement of small wheels, it could be moved from side to side by a light 
pressure with one hand, or by a man on the stack pushing it with his fork. 



314 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



With this admirable machine for handling the straw, it seemed as though 
perfection had been reached, and that there was now practically nothing 
more to be desired. But it was not long until the farmer found that with 
the delivery of six tons of straw per hour it was heavy work for six men to 
build the stack, and that it was the most disagreeable work about the ma- 
chine because of the dust. About 1890, some inventive genius produced the 
"blower" to take the place of the stacker. This is a long jointed tube, some 
sixteen or eighteen inches in diameter, mounted at the rear of the cylinder 
through which the straw is forced by compressed air which is furnished by 
the machine. It can be raised or lowered, turned to the right or to the left, 
so as to deliver the straw at any desired point on the stack. It is managed 
by a man standing on top of the separator near the rear end, does away 
entirely with any hands on the stack, and thus reduces the force about six 




».J.HJApT)Ko.Gfl-Q. 



DISK HARROW. 



men. Some other improvements which have been added are the piitting of 
knives in the cylinder to cut the bands, thus saving one or two hands, for 
often it was necessary to have a man on each side for cutting the bands when 
the wheat was dry and the work was done with the greatest rapidity. Then 
a revolving platform, called a self-feeder, was added in front of the cylinder, 
on which platform the bundles could be thrown from a wagon standing on 
each side, and be carried automatically and dumped into the cylinder, doing 
away with the man who formerly fed the bundles to the machine. To some 
machines an automatic weigher has been attached, which does away with a 
man for measuring and keeping tally of the wheat. Compare for a moment 
this modern machinery which, with a force of twelve or fourteen men, will 
thresh and clean for market from 1200 to 1600 bushels of wheat per day, 
with the man with the flail laboriously pounding out ten bushels, and you 
will get a vivid idea of the progress in agricultural machinery. One some- 
what curious fact must be taken into account in this, which is, that with some 
of these most wonderful machines the cost of labor is about the same it 
formerly was. But the advantage is that the work can be done in a few 
hours, and the farmer's crop be ready for market to take advantage of 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN AGRICULTURE 



315 



increased prices, while by the old plan the work would reach almost through 
the winter. 

In the cutting and handling of hay there has been as great improvement 
as in any portion of the farm. A first-class mowing machine, new from the 
shop, can now be bought for $40 or less, and with it the farmer can drive 
to the field after supper, in the cool of the day, and in an hour cut more 
grass, and do it better, than a man could with a scythe by working hard all 
day. 

Instead of shaking out the swaths slowly with a fork, with a single horse 
hitched to a hay tedder about two acres an hour can be shaken up and left 




ACME HARROW. 



in such shape that both sun and wind have perfect access to it and cause it to 
cure rapidly. 

Instead of raking the hay laboriously by hand, a steel sulky rake does the 
work easily and quickly, doing more in an hour than was possible in a clay 
with the hand rake. On farms where the acreage of hay is large, a self- 
loader attached to the rear of the wagon gathers the hay from the windrow 
and delivers it on the wagon. At the barn, instead of the slow and wearisome 
hand pitching, the hay fork and hay carrier deliver it in the top of the high- 
est barns. 

The invention of the hay baler enables the farmer now to condense his crop, 
so that one third of the room for storage formerly required for hay will answer ; 
and it also enables him to ship it to market by rail, where formerly it was 
necessary that it should be taken in wagons. 

While the plough has not been improved to the extent that many of 



316 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX 111 CENTURY 

our farm implements have been, it is vastly superior to those used by the 
pioneers, and modifies somewhat the adage of " Poor Richard," who wrote : — 

" He who by the plough would thrive, 
Himself must either hold or drive ; " 

for the modern ploughman must not only hold and drive, but drive three 
horses at that, and turn as many acres in a day. Another adage attributed to 
"Poor Richard " was — 

" Plough deep while sluggards sleep, 
And you shall have corn to sell and keep." 

But the modern farmer has learned that the depth to which he ploughs must- 
be governed by the nature of his soil, and that deep ploughing on heavy clay 
lands, or lands with a crude subsoil, is often the cause of short crops and 
permanent injury to the soil. 

It is doubtful if in any line of farm implements there has been more im- 
provement than in that of harrows ; and yet this improvement dates back but 
about a quarter of a century, as previous to that time the old " A " harrow or 
drag, which was hard on the team and did indifferent work, was the only one 
found on most farms. More recently the cutting and slicing harrows have 
been largely introduced, and many other forms of improved harrows have been 
put on the market. For the preparation of hard land for a seed bed. especially 
for small grain, the disk harrow cannot be excelled. 

But for garden use. or for pulverizing sod land which has not been too 
much compacted, the slicing Acme harrow is the most perfect implement in 
use. it being of light draft, easily transferred from field to field, and capable 
of making the finest and best seed-bed. 

The cultivators in use have been greatly improved. It is necessary to de- 
scribe but two of them. The two-horse cultivator with fenders, which enables 
the farmer to cultivate both sides of the row at once, driving two horses in 
the field instead of one, as by the old method, has more than doubled the 
capacity of the individual ; as by its use he is able not only to cultivate both 
sides of the row at once, but to dispeuse entirely with the man who, under the 
old rule, was obliged to follow the cultivator and uncover the corn. This 
" fender " is exceedingly simple, and the only wonder is that it took the 
farmer so long to find out its value. Costing but a few cents, it has saved 
the farmers millions of dollars, as previous to its adoption it was necessary to 
have one man follow each one-horse plow to uncover the corn. There are two 
forms of this "fender," the simplest being a light piece of galvanized sheet 
iron attached to the cultivator or plow so as to come just between it and the 
row of corn ; the other is in the form of a rolling cutter, and attached in 
the same way. With either of these the farmer goes into the field as soon as- 
the young plants can be seen in the row, drives his team astride the row, and 
stirs every inch of the soil, putting a little fresh earth around each hill of 
corn or potatoes without covering a single plant. As a single State grows 
some millions of acres of corn, it can be seen that the saving from this 
little invention to the farmers amounts to millions of dollars in a single 
year. 

The old idea of deep cultivation of most crops has been proven to be wrong, 
and modern implements are made to cultivate the surface to a depth of two 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN AGRICULTURE 



317 



or three inches rather than to tear up the roots of the plants ; and one of the 
most perfect of all implements for this purpose is the "Planet Junior one- 
horse cultivator." 

Perhaps no other class of machines has relieved the farmer more than the 
ones for planting the grain ; and with a modern two-horse corn planter two 
rows can be planted at a time in checkered rows, so that it can be cultivated 
both ways and with more precision, both as to alignment and as to the num- 
ber of plants in a hill, than by the old hand method of planting. The small 
grain is sown by a two-horse drill arranged for not only the grain, but at the 
same time to deposit commercial fertilizer along the rows of grain, and with a 
grass seed sower attached. In the garden a hand drill is used. It is easily 
adjustable to any sized seed, from that of the turnip up to beans and peas, 



xs 



:.j*y 




DOUBLE CORN CULTIVATOR. 



and the seed is perfectly distributed in straight rows, while the garden hand 
cultivator does away largely with the use of the hoe. 

One other modern implement, which promises to be very useful, is "the 
weeder," and its value rests on two facts which it required the farmer many 
years to discover. The first is that the thorough pulverizing of the surface, 
even to the depth of an inch, breaks the capillaries and checks the evaporation 
of moisture ; but to do this it is necessary that the work be done just as soon 
after a rain as the land will crumble, and since often if a drying wind blows the 
land gets dry in a few hours, a machine is needed that will enable the farmer 
to thus stir a large surface in a short time ; and this the weeder does, as it is 
made to cover the width of three rows at once, and more than two acres an 
hour can be stirred with a single machine. The other fact which makes 
this implement of great value is that all weeds are easily exterminated 
when in embryo, and this stirring of the soil kills every one that is 
starting. 



318 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

One other machine which has been greatly improved is the clover hnller. 
Previous to its invention, most of the clover seed was sown in the chaff, 
and when clean seed was required it took several days' work with four horses 
to tramp out three or four bushels, and then much of the seed was left in the 
chaff. 

The modern huller is equipped with the blower and self-feeder, and with it 
from twenty to fifty bushels can be hulled and cleaned in a day, the amount 
depending on how well filled the heads are with seed. 

It is quite recently that machinery has been invented that relieves the 
farmer of the hard work of planting potatoes by hand, and at the same time 
does the work better than the old way, as the machine drops the seed at a 
uniform distance apart and covers it perfectly. A man with this machine 
will do the work of eight or ten men dropping by hand. Several potato dig- 
gers, operated by horse power, have also come into recent use. They greatly 
lighten and accelerate the work, and the cost of growing potatoes has been 
reduced several cents a bushel by these inventions. 

III. IMPROVEMENT OF STOCK. 

Perhaps it would be well in beginning to write on this subject to ask, what 
is '• pedigreed stock " ? Many people have the idea that pedigreeing is an 
arbitrary rule adopted by stock growers to mystify the buyer and secure 
larger prices for their stock. The fact is that it is intended as a protection 
to the purchaser, and is, or should be, a guarantee that the stock has been 
bred along certain lines for a sufficient period to establish the desirable quali- 
ties which it is wished to perpetuate. A rigid censorship is exercised over 
the record books, and it makes every one recording stock, in a certain sense, 
a detective tc see that the records are truthful and represent the animals just 
as they are. 

It is doubtful if along any line of farm operations there has been greater 
improvement than in the breeding and care of stock ; yet there were greater 
difficulties to overcome in doing this than in improving the implements. 
These difficulties may be classed as follows : First, the one already alluded to 
in the opening chapter, to wit, the expense of importing and the consequent 
high price of thoroughbred animals ; and when we recall that this was at a 
time when the farmers were hewing out their homes from the forest, and 
could not obtain large prices for their products, it will be seen that few farm- 
ers could afford to improve their stock. Second, as to cattle and hogs, it was 
almost impossible to breed pure stock ; for all animals were allowed to run at 
large, and the woods were full of "tramp males," which would break through 
the fences and invade the fields where the improved stock was kept. Third. 
those engaged in breeding stock found that there was a limit which when 
reached brought barrenness to high-bred animals, and in many other cases 
reduced the vitality so as to invite disease. That this evil was a real and 
serious one is shown from the fact that large numbers of high-priced animals 
failed to produce young among cattle, and that many herds of pedigreed 
swine were carried off by epidemic diseases. Fourth, and perhaps the most 
serious hindrance to improvement, was the indifference of farmers and the 
want of appreciation of good stock, and of course the farmer who did not want 
it would not cooperate in producing it. 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN AGRICULTURE 



31<> 



The difference between the improvement of implements and stock con- 
sisted largely in the fact that trained mechanics were responsible for the 
former, and they would perfect the implements until the farmers could not 
afford to do without them ; while the slipshod farmer would be satisfied with 
his common stock, and would fail to accept the help of the men who were 
trying to improve it. Another thing which farmers learned slowly was that 
good stock requires good care, which not only means shelter and liberal feed- 
ing, but also that the food be adapted to the wants of the animal. More fine 
animals were ruined by over-feeding with corn — a heating and fattening 
diet — than by insufficient food and exposure to cold and storm. It took 
many years to teach the farmer what a balanced ration was, and why it was 
necessary. 

It would be interesting to take up each separate breed of cattle and trace 




MODERN CLOVER HULLER. 

Showintr Uncle Tom's Stacker and Self-Feeder. 



its source, giving credit to the men who improved and developed it, and 
the date of each importation ; but the limitations of this article forbid any- 
thing more than brief mention of the more prominent breeds, and many 
which possess great merit cannot be even mentioned. The improved cattle of 
the United States may be grouped under three heads, — beef, dairy, and gen- 
eral purpose. Of the first the Short-horn holds, perhaps, the highest place, 
or certainly did for a long series of years. These for many years were bred 
under the name of "Durham," but about a generation ago the name began to 
undergo a change to Short-horn. 

These animals, while especially adapted to the block, are fairly good milk- 
ers, and some strains of them are superior dairy cows. They have the quality 
of early maturity and produce a larger per cent of fine cuts of meat than most, 
if not any, other breeds. These cattle were first imported into America in 



320 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

1797, and many other importations were made during the first half of the 
present century. 

Another breed which closely resembles the Short-horn is the Hereford. 
These cattle are usually of a uniform color — a pale red — with white face, 
breast, and flanks, and drooping horns. They were first introduced by Henry 
•Clay in 1817. Another importation was made in 1810, but it was not until 
1860 and subsequently that they were imported largely and a " herd book " 
established for them. Since that time they have multiplied largely. 

The last of the three distinctly beef breeds is a hornless race originating in 
Scotland, and known by the name of Aberdeen Angus, Galloway, or Polled 
cattle. These cattle have the distinctive quality of hardiness, and as they 
have very thick, close hair they are able to subsist on the range without 




HEREFORD COW. "LADY LAUREL." 

shelter better than perhaps any other breed. The males have a remarkable 
prepotency, and the cross-bred animals very rarely show horns. Like the 
Herefords, they are poor milkers ; for while their milk is rich, the quantity is 
small, and they usually go dry for several months of the year. They were 
first imported into this country about 1850, and in 1883 nine hundred were 
imported and distributed among the cattle breeders of the plains. Polled 
cattle are becoming more popular every year, and many farmers now dehorn 
the cattle of other breeds ; and the time is not far distant when horned cattle 
will be the exception and not the rule. 

The Channel Island group — the Jerseys, Alderneys, and Guernseys — 
embraces unquestionably the best butter animals of the world ; and if we are 
to judge by their wide distribution and great popularity, the Jerseys lead the 
list. They were first introduced into the United States in 1820, and in 1850 
large importations were made ; but it was during the decade from 1870 to 
1880 that greatest interest in the breed was awakened and large and frequent 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN AGRICULTURE 



321 



importations were made. There has been a strong and bitter opposition to 
these cattle by many farmers on account of their small size, but they have won 
their way until they are more universally distributed, and are to be found on 
more farms than any other breed. Remarkable yields of butter from the indi- 
vidual have been recorded, many of them running from 12 to 18 pounds per 
week under high feeding and extra care. 

While the Ayrshire possesses great merit, so few of them have been im- 
ported into this country that it seems scarcely worth while to more than 
mention them. 

Under the head of general-purpose animals come the Holsteins, Devon, and 




GROUP OF ABEKDEEN-ANGUS CATTLE. 



Red Polls. All of these breeds possess fine qualities. The Holsteins were 
probably not introduced into this country until the last half of the century, 
and the " Holstein Herd-Book," published in 1882, shows that about 5000 
registered animals were in this country at that date. While fair beef cattle, 
the Holsteins are deep milkers, and show a record of the largest quantity of 
milk of any breed in America, — some cows giving over 12,000 pounds of milk 
in a year. The milk, however, is not as rich in butter fat as that of the Jer- 
sey, but probably they are the best breed of dairy cows for the cheese factory 
in the United States. 

The Devons are beautiful red cattle. They do not rank as large milkers, 

21 



322 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



but produce a superior quality of milk, and are unexcelled in this respect 
by any breed but the Jersey. One peculiarity about the breed is the 
comparative smallness of the cow; for while the steer will weigh from 
1400 to 1600 pounds, the cows will average only from 800 to 1000 pounds 
each. 

The importation of Red Polls from England is comparatively recent, and 
they come nearer filling the idea of a general purpose animal than any other 
breed in America. The first importation was made in 1873, and consisted of 
only four animals. Two years later four more were imported, and in 1882 
twenty-five. Other importations soon followed. They are of a uniformly 
cherry-red color, with occasionally the tip of the tail white or a little white 
about the udder. Ninety per cent of the grades are hornless. They are of 




JKKSKY COW. IDA OF ST- LAMBERT. 



large size, mature bulls weighing from 1800 to 2200 pounds, and occasionally 
one will exceed 2500 pounds. Cows weigh from 1100 to 1600 pounds, and 
will average 1200. That they mature early the following weights, copied 
from the report of the Smithfield Club, of England, will show : — 

Steer, twenty-two and one half months old, weighed 1390 lbs. 

Heifer, twenty-one and three quarters months old, weighed 1258 lbs. 

Steer, twenty-three and one half months old, weighed 1500 lbs. 

Steer, twenty-two months old, weighed 1336 lbs. 

At the same show a mature cow was exhibited that weighed 1903 pounds. 
As dairy cattle they show good records, giving an average of 5500 pounds of 
milk per year, and some have exceeded 500 pounds of butter in a year, milk- 
ing over 300 days. 

While the United States can show as good horses as any other country in 
the world, they are not as generally distributed among the farmers as are 
animals of other breeds of stock. This perhaps can be accounted for, first, 
from the fact that a horse must be mature, and not less than six years old, 
before it can be put on the market ; and that the low price of the service — 




THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN AGRICULTURE 323 

fee of grades and scrub stallions — is too great a temptation to the farmer 
who is in debt and short of money. Still, our standard has been advancing 
and there is a sure but slow bettering of the working stock of the country. 

In the draft class we have the Norman, Percheron, Clydesdale, and Belgian, 
and possibly some others, while the Cleveland Bay comes as near the general- 
purpose horse as any other breed. The importations that have given us the 
magnificent horses which are being 
used in this country have been made 
chiefly from France, England, Bel- 
gium, and Germany. The blood of 
the English thoroughbred and of the 
Arab has also contributed to the de- 
velopment of the qualities desired. 

In no other class of stock produced 
in this country has the improvement 
been more marked than in the swine, 
and while there are probably half a 

score of breeds in the country, a look through the markets shows that pro- 
bably 90 per cent of them are of the three following breeds : Poland-China 
(formerly called Magie), Berkshire, and Duroc or Jersey Bed ; although it 
is quite possible that the Chester White might take the third place. With 
the exception of the Berkshire, these may be called distinctively American 
breeds, and even the Berkshire has been so modified and improved as to 
almost lay claim to American origin. A few other breeds are kept pure in 
this country, particularly the Essex, Yorkshire, and Victorias ; but they are 
bred to but a limited extent and then for a special purpose. One thing that 
makes it easy and rapid to improve swine is the fact that they mature so 
early, and that a new cross may be made every year if desired. The writer, 
living in that part of Miami Valley, in Ohio, where the Poland-China swine 
originated, has seen, in a quarter of a century, these hogs change in form 
and color and general characteristics, and these fixed so thoroughly that they 
could be depended on to reproduce them. As this breed existed in the fifties, 
they were coarse in form, mongrel in color, and slow in maturing, requiring 
from eighteen months to two years to be made ready for market. But to-day 
they are early maturing, can be put on the market at six months of age, 
weighing from 200 to 250 pounds, and are of uniform shape and color. They 
are still the leading breed throughout the great corn belt of the United States, 
and the herd-books have registered breeding stock to the number of many 
thousand. 

The Berkshire hog was first introduced into this country in 1823, and a 
second importation Avas made in 1832, but there was no systematic breeding 
and care to preserve their purity, and grades were sold for pure-bred until 
the breed fell into disrepute ; but in 1865 new importations were made of 
the finest animals to be found in England, and the merits of the breed became 
universally known. Though called a small breed, they are but little below 
the Poland-China in weight, and grades from Berkshire males on large rangey 
sows will give the finest possible hogs for the block ; but these grades must 
not be used for breeding, or the stock will deteriorate. 

The American Chester White hog originated in Chester Countv, Pennsvl- 



324 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

vania ; but it is believed that there was an importation of white hogs from 
England in 1818. The breed, until within less than a quarter of a century, 
was coarse, large of bone, and slow of maturity, and sometimes would attain 
enormous weight, nearly 1000 pounds ; but in the last quarter of a century 
they have been improved until they are a close rival of the best breeds we 
have. 

The Duroc-Jersey Red seems to be a distinctly American breed, having a 
history dating back to 1824, but it is less than a half century since they came 
into prominence, and the improvement made in them in that time has put 
them near the front rank. One thing which caused their rapid increase 
was the belief that they were proof against swine-plague and hog-cholera, 
and they were boomed on that idea. But this did not prove true, and our 
intelligent farmers have learned that it is not in the breed but in the food 
and care that immunity from disease will be found. These hogs are of a 
beautiful red color, and of good form. The mothers are prolific and good 
nursers, and they mature early, making the choicest of pig pork at an early 
age. 

No other class of animals has been subject to so much foreign competition 
or has figured to such an extent as a political factor as the sheep, and this, 
for more than a generation past, has kept the sheep industry fluctuating 
between a depression which destroyed all profit and a boom which placed 
fictitious values on them, and both extremes have worked harm to the indus- 
try. Yet through all these changes, those who have recognized the intrinsic 
value of the sheep and stuck to the work of improvement, have not only 
found the business profitable but have prevented the deterioration of the 
animals which threatened. 

While swine are of no value until killed, the sheep gives two coupons in 
a year, one in the fleece and the other in the increase, and the breeder 
always has two distinct objects before him, — the production of wool and 
mutton. The breeds of sheep are almost as dissimilar as are horses from 
cattle, and some are suited for hot arid lands, while others- are adapted to 
the rich lowlands with their abundant and succulent herbage. The most 
ancient of all breeds is the Merino ; and those who have studied this ques- 
tion trace its descent back in direct line, probably, to the flocks of the patri- 
archs. For ages they have been the clothers of mankind, first with the skin 
and later with the fleece, and still they maintain a high, if not first, place 
among different breeds. They have been wonderfully improved, but the 
improvement has been along the line of increasing the value of the fleece 
rather than the carcass, and it has been changed from an animal that would 
produce two or three pounds of wool, and one which had bare belly and legs, 
to one which produces a fleece from the hoofs to very near the nose. It is 
within bounds to say the weight of the fleece has been doubled. 

With the long-wool breeds the improvement has been designed to develop 
the carcass and mutton qualities rather than the wool, and of these the two 
typical breeds are the Shropshire and Cotswold. Probably the best mutton 
lambs that are produced in this country are from the Shropshire rams and 
Merino ewes. The representative Cotswold is of majestic port and large 
size. The wool is curly, long, and lustrous ; not dry and harsh to the touch, 
and has but a slight amount of yolk ; at maturity it ought to be eight inches 
long. The fleece averages six or seven pounds. 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN AGRICULTURE 325 

IV. IMPROVEMENT IN FARMING METHODS. 

The improvement of methods on the farm has been discussed to some 
extent in speaking of implements and stock, as their use involves better 
methods; but there are other points worthy of notice. One of the most 
important of these is drainage. The first attempts to remove surface water 
from farm-land were by the construction of open ditches ; but as these had 
to follow the natural water-courses which often zigzagged through the fields, 
they were objectionable, not only because of making bad shaped hinds to plow 
and cultivate, but also because they caused a waste of land, and usually had 
to be bridged to be crossed with the wagons. Other objections to them were 
that they produced crops of weeds to give trouble in the fields, and there was 
a constant tendency to till up, which soon impaired their usefulness ; or, if 
kept cleaned out, it had to be done at 
heavy expense. The first attempt at 
underdrains, or '•' blind ditches," as 
they were called, was by making an 
underground water-way with stone or 
timber ; but both these materials were 
found objectionable, because such 
drains were easily damaged by the ac- 
tion of craw-fish and rarely continued 
to do good work for more than a few 
years. It was after the middle of the 
century that drain tiles made of burnt 
clay were introduced, resembling good 

i -i i • -i • '-11 „ ~ . MERINO SHKEP. 

hard brick in material ; but the first 

drains laid were usually with tiles of too small caliber, two-inch being 
largely used, which Avere not only easily choked but failed to carry the water 
off rapidly enough in a wet time. Large sections of many of our States were 
originally swampy and so nearly level as to make it necessary to construct open 
ditches, almost like canals, as an outlet for the water flowing into them from 
the drains. These could not, of course, be constructed by individuals, as no 
man had a right to go on his neighbor's land to open a ditch for this purpose ; 
so, in many cases, this was made a matter of legislation, and the large open 
ditches were built by taxation equitably levied on the lands. By this means 
the farmers were enabled to thoroughly drain large areas of country which 
otherwise would have been nearly worthless for agricultural purposes. In 
some instances the earth taken from these large ditches was graded up sev- 
eral feet high at the side, and on the top of this levee a turnpike road was 
constructed, thus giving a double benefit from a single operation. The first 
draining of farms was in the wet spots where, usually, a single line of tiles, 
laid for a moderate distance, would bring the parts of the held under cultiva- 
tion that otherwise would be waste ; but gradually the farmers learned that 
there were other valuable effects from drainage, and that most heavy clay 
lands would be benefited by it sufficiently to justify the expense. The fol- 
lowing incidental advantages have been learned : first, drainage deepens the 
soil ; second, it prevents the killing out of grass and grains during a wet 
season ; third, it makes the land warmer ; fourth, it improves the texture of 




326 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



the soil and makes it possible to work and plant it earlier in the spring ; 
fifth, it prevents washing and waste of manure ; sixth, it often prevents 
failure of crops in excessively wet seasons, and enables them to endure drought 
better in dry seasons. Although drainage is expensive it is a permanent 
improvement, and in many cases the increase of the wheat crop in a single 
year has defrayed the expense of tiling the land. 

Another improvement, which seems to be the opposite of this, is the irri- 
gation of arid lands in those parts of the country where the annual rainfall 
is small and every summer brings a drought. In these cases, water stored 
in large natural or artificial reservoirs, or that furnished by snow melting 
on the mountains, is utilized to carry the crops through the dry season and 
to enable the farmer to grow large crops where nothing could be produced 
without this aid. 

Perhaps in no other line have the methods changed for the better more 
than in the care of domestic animals, and this includes both shelter and feed- 




DOUBLE CORN PLANTER. 



ing. In the first half of the century, cattle and hogs were usually exposed 
to the severe weather of the winter with no other shelter than that afforded 
by a straw-stack, and this often was found leveled to the ground by the first 
of March, leaving them entirely without shelter at that changeable season 
of the year. They were allowed at all seasons to roam over the farm and 
gather their own living, and were turned into the cornfields as soon as the 
ears were removed, where they lived well as long as the stalk pasture lasted, 
after which they de] .ended on straw for food until spring; and it was com- 
mon to have the cattle so poor, as spring approached, that many died of 
actual starvation, while others became so feeble that they would have to be 
lifted to help them on their feet. Then the stables for horses were con- 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN AGRICULTURE 



327 



structed apparently with the idea that ventilation was the chief thing, and 
the horses stood and shivered in their stalls from the drafts that blew through 
the sides of the barn and up through the floors of their stalls. Gradually 
these things have changed, until the larger part of farm stock is warmly shel- 
tered, and well fed with a variety of food. Succulent food is now largely 
furnished from ensilage preserved in silos, from beets and other roots grown 
and stored for winter use, and, more recently, from sorghum, which has 
been found to retain its succulence and sweetness during the entire winter. 
Farmers have learned what is meant by a balanced ration, which is a combi- 
nation of foods that will give the proper proportion of heat and fat producers 
with those which make bone and muscle, and that it means both health and 




HAND GARDEN PLOW. 



economy to substitute to a certain extent bran and oil meal for corn, and 
clover hay for hay made from the grasses, and straw. 

Another great improvement has been along the line of fencing ; and, in 
this respect, the most economical step of all has been in reducing the amount 
of division fence on the farm, keeping only a portion of it divided into fields 
for pasture, and leaving half or more of the best parts to be cultivated in a 
single inclosure on which stock is never turned. In most States, laws have 
been passed obliging each farmer to fence in his own stock, and no one is 
compelled to fence out his neighbor's. The substitution of Avire for wood as 
a fencing material has reduced the cost of fence construction about one half, 
and the waste of land occupied by fences is reduced in about the same pro- 
portion. 

V. IMPROVEMENT IN AND ABOUND THE HOME. 

The change in this direction in a single generation has been most marked, 
and is one of the surest signs of prosperity. The log cabin has given place 
to a substantial and, in many eases, an elegant home. The irregular and ill- 
shaped yards, fenced with rails, which surrounded both house and barn, and 



328 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

in which hogs and cattle were kept, with no shelter but a rail pen with straw 
roof, have disappeared, and rectangular lots enclosed with neat fences and 
good barns and piggeries have taken their place. The wood-pile has retired 
from the front yard, and is now sheltered in a woodshed adjoining the kitchen ;. 
and a neat lawn with flowers and shrubbery is no longer the exception, but 
the rule. A good garden, in which the newer and improved vegetables have 
taken the place of the old sorts, and a berry patch, well cared for, afford the 
luxuries which they alone can give for a period of many weeks each season. 
The water is no longer carried from a remote spring, but good wells and cis- 
terns are placed conveniently, many of them so that the pump is in the kitchen 
or under a porch attached to the house. The cellar is usually floored with 
cement, and the stairs leading to it are of easy grade ; while good walks of 
plank or cement make it a pleasure to pass from the house to the surrounding 
outbuildings. 

Another line in which very great improvement is shown is in maintaining 
the fertility of the soil. The old method was to exhaust the fertility of a field 
and then clear a new one ; and it is doubtful if one farmer in a hundred could 
have answered the question, " Why does land become sterile after long culti- 
vation ? " for they had no conception of what the chemical elements of the 
soil were which are necessary to its fertility. There are two theories of 
fertilizing and fertility : one, that the soil is a mine to be worked out, and 
which will inevitably become unproductive in the process ; the other, that it- 
is a laboratory in which, under the intelligent management of man, forces can 
be set at work which will maintain and develop a perpetual fertility. Mal- 
thus, more than a century ago, announced that the time would come before 
long Avhen the people of the earth would starve because they had outgrown 
the fertility of the soil and its productive capacity ; but after long cultivation, 
we find it possible to produce on less than half the cultivatable land enough 
not only to feed our own nation, but the world at large, and there is no 
questioning the accurateness of the laboratory theory as opposed to the mine 
theory. 

The first improvement along this line was in the better saving and utiliz- 
ing of animal manures ; but when it was found that these were insufficient, 
science came to the help of the farmer. The chemist analyzed both crop and 
soils, ascertaining what was needed, and then the world was searched for 
the materials necessary. The elements which formed our plants were found 
to be fifteen in number, but of these it was found that it was necessary to 
furnish only three, — nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash. Nitrogen w as 
known to exist in inexhaustible quantities in the atmosphere, forming 
seventy-six per cent of its composition ; but the question was long unsolved : 
" Can growing plants appropriate atmospheric nitrogen ?" Finally, it was dis- 
covered that plants of the Leguminosae family — of which clover is the best 
type and of greatest value for this purpose to the farmer — could appropriate 
nitrogen from the atmosphere ; and after careful research, with the aid of the 
microscope, it was discovered that this appropriation came about through the 
agency of bacteria in the roots. This fact connected with the clover plant is 
one of immense importance to the farmer, because nitrogen is not only the 
most expensive element of fertility to purchase, but is likely to be lost both 
through evaporation and leaching. 80 it can be seen that clover is one of the 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN AGRICULTURE 329 

most valuable plants which can be grown on the farm, for the reason that the 
crop can be utilized as food for stock, while still great benefit inures to the soil,. 
as the fertility is largely stored in the roots, which cannot be used for any 
other purpose, and as by the action of these roots the mechanical condition of 
the soil is greatly improved. Farther, the dense shade the plant affords in- 
duces chemical action in the soil, which makes plant food available that would 
otherwise remain inert. One of the most wonderful things connected with 
fertility is that God has so locked it up in the earth that no greedy genera- 
tion can exhaust it, and that the greatest source of fertility is the atmosphere, 
whose secrets are just being discovered. 

An English scientist has recently announced that by the aid of electricity, 
furnished by cheap water-power, nitrates can be manufactured directly from 
the atmosphere so as to reduce their cost to less than one fourth what it has 
heretofore been. Again, the intelligent use of clover will enable the farmer 
to produce his own nitrogen and reduce the cost of chemical fertilizers to 
one half what it usually is when containing nitrogen. This brings us to the 
question of commercial fertilizers. With the single exception of guano, they 
are a product of the last third of the century. The first step toward the use 
of commercial fertilizers was by analyzing our barnyard manures. When the 
chemist discovered that a ton or more which the farmer drew out laboriously 
with two horses to the field contained but twenty or thirty pounds of actual 
plant food, — the remainder being water, sand, and other dead matter, — the 
next step was to combine the three elements essential to a perfect fertilizer 
in such proportions that a single sack would hold enough manure for an acre 
of ground ; and in tens of thousands of cases, the application of this amount 
of fertilizer has increased the wheat crop from five to fifteen bushels per acre, 
doubling the grass crop which followed, which in turn, and through the influ- 
ence of the fertilizer, formed a sward which, by its decay, fertilized a third 
crop when it was turned under in the rotation. 

The element in fertilizers of next importance to nitrogen is phosphoric 
acid, and the first source from which this was obtained was the bones of 
animals. But the supply from animals slaughtered was entirely insufficient ; 
and so the great plains of the West were gleaned, and tens of thousands of 
tons of buffalo bones were gathered and shipped East to fertilize our farms. 
But soon this source began to wane ; then two other sources, practically inex- 
haustible, of this indispensable element were discovered, — the phosphate 
rocks of the South and the iron slag from furnaces, each of which is found to 
contain a large per cent of phosphoric acid ; and when the rock is dissolved by 
acids and the slag ground to an impalpable powder by machinery, the fertiliz- 
ing elements in both are found to be as available and valuable as that from 
bones. The supply of potash was obtained at first from wood ashes, which 
the clearing of the farms and the universal use of wood as fuel made abun- 
dant. But later, when these sources were no longer sufficient, potash salts 
were found in large quantities where they could be mined from the earth, so 
that now there seems to be in sight an inexhaustible supply of the elements 
needed for plant food. Like almost every reform, the use of commercial fer- 
tilizers was opposed bitterly by many farmers, and statements were made by 
them that their effects on the soil were like those of whiskey or other stimu- 
lants on the body, and that the ultimate result of their use would be that the 



330 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 

soil would become barren. Many refused to use them at all ; others, after a 
single trial made without intelligence, denounced them as humbugs. But as 
they saw on the farms of their neighbors the wonderful results from their use, 
they have been gradually led to adopt them, until now, with most farmers, the 
question no longer is, " Can I afford to use commercial fertilizers ? " but rather, 
" Can I afford to do without them ? " 

VI. IMPROVEMENT IN AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 

To one who has followed the writer to this point, it must be apparent that 
the farmer of to-day has made progress in the knowledge of his calling to at 
least as great an extent as he has improved in his methods, and that the 
terms "farm drudge" and "clodhopper" are misapplied and should be 
obsolete. There is no other industrial calling in which one touches nature 
and science at so many points, or which gives such good opportunities to 
develop the perfect man, — " the sound mind in the sound body," — as 
that of the farmer. Admitting that not all farmers understand this 
and live up to their privileges, does not alter the fact that the farm offers 
a great opportunity to develop and broaden the mind ; that the last quar- 
ter of the century has brought into active operation forces which have 
touched and influenced a large per cent of the tillers of the soil ; and that 
the leaven of education is working mightily. The intelligent, studious 
farmer becomes a practical botanist as he studies the growth and habits 
of plants. As he is dependent more than any other man upon the weather 
and must change his plans frequently to correspond with climatic changes, 
he becbmes a meteorologist. Myriads of insects, which include both ene- 
mies and friends, make him a student of entomology ; and the wonderful 
alchemy of the soil by which offensive and poisonous matters are trans- 
muted into golden grain, luscious fruits, .vegetables, and flowers, calls for 
a knowledge of chemistry. The use of modern machinery develops his 
mechanical powers ; and the man on the farm develops in more directions 
and has an opportunity to acquire a broader education than any other man 
who earns his living by his own labor. To sustain this statement, it is 
only necessary to enumerate the educational opportunities and privileges 
now open to the farmer and which are, to a great extent, utilized by him. 
First, what the government is doing for him. No other calling is repre- 
sented in the cabinet of the President, and time and experience have de- 
monstrated the Avisdom of a Secretary of Agriculture. Not only are we 
distinctively an agricultural people, but the prosperity of the nation de- 
pends on the intelligence and prosperity of the farmer more than on all 
other classes combined. Not only must the food supply of our people be 
furnished, but the foreign demand must be met ; and this gives to the 
farmers money to spend, so that the industries which contribute to their 
wants shall share in the general prosperity. While there are many honor- 
able and useful callings, agriculture seems to be the only one which touches 
and affects all others. The financial importance of agriculture is shown 
by the fact that, after the wants of the nation were supplied, in the year 
1897 we exported in round numbers $690,000,000 worth of agricultural pro- 
ducts, or nearly 67 per cent of the entire exports ; and notwithstanding an 
enormous increase of imports of wool and sugar, in anticipation of increased 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN AGRICULTURE 



331 




SUCCESS ANTI-CLOG WEEDEK. 



duties, the balance of trade on agricultural products for the year was 
$289,000,000, and the export of agricultural products for the current fiscal 
year would show still larger figures. 

Considering the specific educational influences which are elevating the 
farmer and his calling, we enumerate the following : Agricultural literature, 
farmers' organizations, — including farmers' clubs, fanners' institutes, and 
the Grange, — agricultural experiment stations, and agricultural colleges, 
all of which have contributed 
their share to the intelligence 
and prosperity of the farmer, 
and all are products of the last 
half of the century. To give an 
intelligent idea of the help which 
these influences have brought to 
the farmer, it is necessary to treat 
them to some extent in detail. 
First, agricultural literature. All 
that is necessary to an under- 
standing of the progress in this 
direction is to get one of the very 
few so-called agricultural papers 
of fifty years ago and compare it 
with those of to-day. Not only 
have they multiplied a hundredfold, but while the former largely contained 
stilted articles written by theorists, to-day every page is full of practical 
.instruction written by farmers, and often by specialists who have spent 
years in improving some line of farming or stock breeding. Most of our 
agricultural papers have a staff of paid contributors, nearly all of whom 
have made a success in some branch of farming ; and so anxious are the 
publishers of these papers to give their readers all the help possible, that 
they search out the men who are prospering on the farm and engage their 
services as instructors for their readers. The journals devoted to agricul- 
ture are numbered by hundreds, some of them devoted to a single line, — 
such as sheep, poultry, or gardening, — and others with well classified de- 
partments which give instruction on all points. In addition to this, nearly 
all of the weeklies have a page of agriculture, usually conducted by a farmer 
or some one with practical knowledge of farm work. There are no secrets in 
agriculture, and every farmer is ready to impart to all any valuable informa- 
tion he acquires. Farmers appreciate the value of these helps and make 
large use of them, and the circulation of these papers is enormous. 

By Farmers' Clubs we mean those organizations of farmers, governed by 
constitutions and by-laws, who meet at stated times for the discussion of 
topics connected with the improvement of their calling. There are no sta- 
tistics available from which can be gathered the extent of this movement, but 
Ohio reports fifty clubs and has formed a state organization. In Michigan, 
where the clubs are organized on a different basis, 30,000 members are 
reported; they have also formed a state organization, which was attended 
by 200 delegates at the last meeting. Indiana is but little, if any, behind 
these two States, and the club idea is rapidly spreading through the North- 



332 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX TB CENTURY 

era States. There are two forms of these clubs, one of which limits the 
membership to twelve families, and the meetings are all held at the homes 
of the members, one each month. The advantages of this plan are several. 
First, with the club thus limited, the horses can be stabled and cared for dur- 
ing inclement weather of winter. Second, the wives need prepare but one 
meal in the year for the club ; while with the large clnb it is necessary that 
each should contribute to a basket dinner for every meeting, which often 
causes as much trouble as to prepare the meal for the entire club once a 
year. Third, the attendance is sure to be more regular in the small club, and 
one condition of membership is that every member shall be present at each 
meeting unless providentially detained. Fourth, with a club of this size 
every member can take part in the discussion, and there will be less danger 
of a few " talkers " monopolizing the time. Fifth, the social features in 
the small club are very much better than in the large. Most of the clubs 
in Ohio and Indiana are organized on this basis, while in Michigan it is prob- 
able that most of the clubs have an unlimited membership. The objection 
is sometimes urged that the small club seems selfish, but as any twelve 
or even six families are at liberty to organize a club this objection is not 
valid. 

As many farmers who would like to organize may not be able to find a 
form of constitution and by-laws, it seems proper to give one here. 

Preamble. 

Recognizing the fact that farmers need an opportunity to compare methods 
and to cultivate their social qualities, and considering that " As iron sharp- 
eneth iron, so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend," in order that 
we may be mutually helpful to each other in matters relating to husbandry, 
home comfort, and economy, we do form ourselves into an association known 

as the Farmers' Club [fill the blank with the name you wish to use 

for your club], and adopt for our government the following : — 

Constitution. 

Article 1. The officers shall be President, Vice-President, Secretary, Trea- 
surer, and Librarian, who shall be elected annually in November, and assume 
their duties in January of the following year. 

Article 2. The duties of these officers shall be such as pertain to the offices 
in other organizations and are indicated by the name of the office. 

Article 3. The active members of this club shall be engaged in agricultural 
pursuits, but honorary members may be elected by unanimous vote. Honor- 
ary members are not obliged to attend all the meetings, but will be welcomed 
to any. 

Article 4. Application for membership must be submitted at the meeting 
previous to their being balloted for, and members will be admitted on receiv- 
ing a two-thirds vote by ballot ; but the membership shall be limited to twelve 
families. 

Article 5. Amendments may be made at any regular meeting by a two- 
thirds vote of the active members. 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN AGRICULTURE 333 

By-laws. 

1. The club shall meet at the residence of one of the members on the third 
Thursday of each month, at ten o'clock, invitations to which shall be limited 
to the hostess of the day. 

2. The club shall be called to order by the president, after an hour spent 
in social intercourse, and the order of exercises shall be as follows : — 

a. Reading and approving minutes of last meeting. 

b. Monthly record of current events. 

c. Selections, recitations, essays. 

d. Adjournment for dinner and social intercourse until two o'clock. 

e. Discussion ; so conducted as to avoid all questions of politics and the- 
ology. 

/. Question drawer. 

g. Miscellaneous business. 

In order that the work of the club may be systematic and the time fully 
occupied, a programme covering the entire year is prepared and printed so as 
to be ready for distribution at the December meeting of each year. That the 
reader may understand the working of this plan, a few topics will be given, 
taken from the programme of the club of which the writer is a member : — 

January. 

The club will meet at the home of Mr 

Thursday, the 19th. 

Selection Mrs 

Paper Mr 

Topic : A review of the previous year. 

Each member will give in writing a statement of profits and losses for the 
year under the following heads : — 

1. General crops grown and acreage and yield thereof. 

2. What special crops have been raised. 

3. Stock raised or handled. 

4. What experiments have been made on the farm. 

5. What losses of stock, or crops, and the cause thereof. 

June. 

The club will meet at the home of Mr 

Thursday, the 15th. 

Selection Mrs 

Paper : " Hindrances to sheep raising and how to avoid them." 

Mr 

Topic : The Farmer's Barn. 

1. Relative size to farm. 

2. Location and ground plan. 

3. Arrangement of stabling, feeding, and water conveniences. 

4. Plan for saving manure. 



334 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 

Either a gentleman or a lady is appointed to open each topic, after which 
the subject is opened for question or discussion by any member of the club. 
During one month of the summer, usually July or August, a picnic takes the 
place of the regular meeting, at which a basket dinner is served. 

Farmers' institutes are, in the best sense of the word, a farmers' school, and 
while it is less than twenty years since their first organization, nearly all of 
the States, at least in the North, are conducting them to a greater or less 
extent. As Ohio claims the honor of inaugurating this movement, and the 
writer is more familiar with the plan of organization and the work of insti- 
tutes in that State than any other, some facts concerning them will be given. 
The first attempt to teach the farmers by lecture courses was made late in 
the seventies at the Ohio State Agricultural College, when a course of eighty 
lectures on subjects connected with farm interests were given, all of them 
by professors of the college. This first course occupied five weeks-; and as 
it was found that but a limited number of farmers could be induced to leave 
their homes and care of their stock in the winter, and that the attendance 
was only about forty, the next two years the course was shortened in hopes 
that a larger attendance might result, but such was not the case. Then some 
one suggested, " If the farmers will not come to the lectures, why not take 
the lectures to the farmers ? " and the outcome of this suggestion has been a 
wonderful success ; the State holding three hundred institutes in the winter 
of 1897 and 1898, under a law providing a fund for that purpose, and over 
a hundred independent institutes in addition, by which is meant institutes 
in which the local organization pays its own expenses and chooses its own 
lecturers and subjects. 

The work in most of our States is thoroughly organized, a fund provided 
to meet the expenses of the work, placed in some States under the charge of 
the Secretary of Agriculture, and in others in charge of a superintendent 
of institutes. The farmers have met this effort for their improvement with 
great enthusiasm, and the attendance is usually limited by the size of the 
hall provided. All partisan and sectarian questions are rigorously excluded 
from the discussions. A bulletin is issued in the fall, which gives the names 
of a large corps of lecturers and a list of subjects, and these are sent to the 
officers of the local organizations, from which they can select such topics as 
they wish discussed. Half of the time of each session is allotted to the 
state lecturers, while local talent is expected to fill the other half. The 
greatest possible freedom is allowed in asking questions and discussing the 
work of the speakers, and no other educational influence which has come to 
the farmer has equaled that offered by these meetings. At the close of each 
year the best papers and discussions are printed in a bulletin for free distri- 
bution among the farmers, and are given out at the meeting the ensuing year,, 
or are mailed from the office of the Secretary of the State Board of Agricul- 
ture on application. 

The Grange was organized at Washington, D. C, in 1867, but existed only 
on paper until January, 1873, when the first meeting of the National Grange 
convened at Georgetown, D. C, with delegates from ten States. It was 
started as a secret society, with a ritual and degrees, and seemed to catch 
the popular fancy among the farmers. At the meeting of the National 
Grange in 1874, thirty-two States were represented. 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN AGRICULTURE 



335 




ASPINWALL POTATO PLANTER. 



Probably no other organization has made so rapid a growth as this. A large 
element, however, of the membership was attracted to it by the rallying cry of 
"Down with the middleman !" and had little or no conception of its educa- 
tional possibilities. Little country stores with very small capital, and managed 
by men with no business training, sprang up at every cross-road, which, contrary 
to the expectation of their founders, did not save money, but resulted in some 
valuable business education for which a good tuition fee was paid. The reac- 
tion which set in made it seem for 
a time as though the entire order 
would disintegrate ; but fortu- 
nately there were wise leaders 
who had caught the true idea, 
that the organization must be 
kept on an educational basis to 
save it from extinction, and 
through their efforts it has be- 
come a power for good in most 
localities, and has been of great 
service to the farmers. County, 

state, and national societies have been organized, and no other large bodies 
of farmers can so quickly and thoroughly cooperate in measures pertaining 
to the interests of the farmer as those belonging to this order. 

Another educational force of immense value to the farmers is found in the 
experiment stations, which are established in every State of the Union. This 
work was started by an act of Congress, approved March 2, 1887, and known 
as the " Hatch Act." By this act the sum of $15,000 per annum was appro- 
priated for each State in the Union, to be specially provided by Congress in 
the appropriations from year to year. In addition to this sum, most of the 
States have made large appropriations for the purchase of suitable grounds 
and the erection of buildings, and to cover the expense of printing the re- 
ports and pamphlets which are sent out free to the farmers who apply for 
them. 

To go a little farther, the questions requiring investigation by the agricul- 
tural experiment stations may be divided into three principal groups, accord- 
ing as they are related to the soil, to the growth of crops and vegetation, or to 
domestic animals and their products. 

I. The soil is studied — 

(1) In its varieties, as found in different parts of the farm and of the 
State. 

(2) In its physical properties, as affected by tillage, drainage, irrigation, 
etc. 

(3) In its chemical properties, as related to the maintenance of fertility by 
the use of fertilizers and otherwise. 

II. In vegetation and crop production some of the objects of study are : — 

(1) Varieties, including the selection and dissemination of new sorts ; the 
elimination of synonyms ; the comparison of strains of varieties ; the produc- 
tion of improved varieties, etc., etc. 

(2) Vegetable pathology, including studies of rusts, smuts, blights, rots, 
mildews, etc. 



336 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

(3) Control of injurious insects. 

(4) Forestry, embracing the culture of forest trees for wind-breaks, for tim- 
ber, for nuts and incidental products. 

III. In the study of animals some of the problems are : — 

(1) Breeds and their comparative values for different purposes. 

(2) Foods and feeding, for growth, for meat, for milk and wool. 

(3) The diseases of animals, especially those of contagious, epizootic, or 
parasitic nature. 

The stations have done most valuable work along these different lines, and 
have contributed in a large measure to the introduction of improved varieties 
of cereals, forage crops, and fruits. In the case of wheat especially, there 
can be no doubt that the work of the stations has been a factor of great im- 
portance in producing large yields, by stimulating the farmers to a more care- 
ful comparison of varieties and of methods of culture. 

A plan of purchasing and testing most of the so-called new varieties of 
fruits and grains has been followed by some of the stations, thus enabling the 
farmers and fruit growers to judge whether such varieties are likely to be 
superior to sorts already cultivated. It has been part of the work of the sta- 
tions to expose fraudulent sales of fruit, stock, and fertilizers. Much other 
work has been and is being done, but the instances given show the value of 
the investigations made. As has already been stated under another heading, 
the officers of the experiment stations take an active part in the work of 
the institutes, and by the frequent issuing of bulletins and their annual 
reports convey valuable information to the farmer in every department of 
his work. In many States they have established reading courses for the 
study of Nature, which are conducted similarly to those in the Chautauqua 
courses. 

In the same connection the work of the Bureau of Animal Industry should 
be noticed. Possibly no other organization of the government is doing so 
much to save farmers from loss through disease of stock and educating them 
to the same extent as this. The organization is made up of men of the highest 
scientific training, whose lives are devoted to the study of diseases of domes- 
tic animals and whose work extends to the testing of remedies, the inspection 
of meats, the study of foreign markets, and everything that pertains to the 
interest of the stock growers. No disease can break out in the herds of live 
stock in any part of the country without this bureau being at once notified of 
it. and trained officials are sent to study all the circumstances connected with 
it and to prevent, if possible, such disease from becoming epidemic. Some 
years ago, when contagious pleuro-pneumonia had secured a foothold in this 
country, the Bureau of Animal Industry set to work to stamp it out. The Old 
World was paralyzed by the enormity of the undertaking. Veterinarians iu 
England and Continental Europe laughed at us and considered us fit subjects 
for lunatic asylums. " Had n't they always had it ? It cost them millions 
of dollars annually in cattle, yet they had been unable to stamp it out, and 
most assuredly we could not do what European veterinarians could not." 
They forgot that we were Yankees. It cost us many good hard dollars 
that were represented by large figures ; but we stamped it out, and it has 
now been years since "Uncle Sam" officially declared the country free 
from it. 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN AGRICULTURE 337 

Another work which this bureau undertook was the regulation of vessels 
in which cattle were exported, and they reduced the losses so as to save from 
two to three million dollars annually in the insurance of export cattle. 
The greatest possible care is taken to disinfect vessels in which cattle 
have been shipped, and strict regulations are established regulating the 
size of stalls, ventilation, the number of cattle to be carried on any single 
vessel, and every point which has a bearing on the health and comfort of the 
animals. 

It was not until after the Civil War that such a thing as an agricultural col- 
lege was known in this country, but through the action of Congress very liberal 
appropriations were made, which in most States were supplemented by the ac- 
tion of the State Legislatures, and an agricultural college was started in every 
State of the Union. In the beginning there was much criticism, and without 
doubt many mistakes were made by those to whom the work was assigned ; but 
now that a generation has passed, the farmers have come to understand bet- 
ter the objects of ^hese schools, and scientific men have been trained to do the 
work ; and these men have gone out into other departments, such as those 
already described, and have made possible the splendid achievements which 
have already been hinted at in what has been written. The teachers and 
officials of these colleges have been exceedingly friendly to everything that 
could help the farmers, and are in close touch with tbein ; aiding in the work 
of local, state, and national organizations, and, in most States, carrying on 
the work of the experiment stations through their professors and graduates ; 
and in many of them courses of lectures by practical farmers have been estab- 
lished. Without question they are becoming more and more helpful as the 
years go by, and their power for good is constantly increasing. 

A SUMMING UP. 

What has agriculture gained, or rather along what lines, in the century's 
progress ? A brief summary would seem a fitting close of this chapter : — 

(1) The marvelous advance in methods and means of transportation, and 
the consequent opening of the markets of the world. 

(2) The knowledge of the chemical constituents of the soil and its manage- 
ment in the line of maintaining fertility. 

(3) The appliances to lighten labor and shorten processes in the production 
and harvesting of crops. 

(4) Increased knowledge of plants, as to their growth and cultivation, 
their feeding qualities, and the combination of these qualities in feeding 
our domestic animals, by which we are able to reduce the cost of production 
through the early maturity of the animals and the maintaining of vigorous 
health. 

(5) Increased knowledge of the value and power of organization and of 
agricultural literature in helping to a practical education for the duties of the 
farm. 

(6) In an increase of home comforts and a higher ideal of living, and an 
appreciation of the fact that the work of the farm should be subservient to 
the life on the farm, as "The life is more than meat, and the body than 
raiment." 

(7) In no other country on the globe are there so many tillers of the soil 

22 



338 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

who own their homes, and, as a consequence, there is no country where there 
is so much of patriotism. When Matthew Arnold visited the United states, 
nothing thai he saw delighted him more than the beautiful farms, with their 
comfortable dwellings and outbuildings and the evidences of high cultivation 
and fertility. Bui one thing puzzled him. and that was the absence of tenant 
houses, and he asked. "Where do the men live who cultivate these farms?" 
When told that in most eases the farmers were their own tenants, he could 
scarcely express his astonishment. 

Prince Kropotkin, o( Russia, who has traveled in this country and paid 
particular attention to the condition oi agriculture, says in his summing up : 

•• Anieriean agriculture otters an imposing sight ; not in the w heat fields of the 

far West, which will soon become a thing of the past, but by the development 
of rational agriculture and id' the forces which promote it. Read thedeserip- 
tdon of an agricultural exhibition in a small town in Iowa, with 70,000 farmers 

camping with their families in tents during the fair week, studying, learning. 
buyingaud selling, and enjoying life. You see a national fete, ami yon feel that 
yon deal with a nation in which agriculture is held in respect. Or read the 
publications oi' the scores of experiment stations, whose reports are published 
by thousands and scattered broadcast over the country, and are read by the 
farmers and disenssed at countless farmers" meetings, and yon will feel that 
Anieriean agriculture is a real force, imbued with life, which no longer fears 
mammoth farms, and needs not. like a child, Cry for protection." 

The future o[' agriculture in this country seems safe, and no elass oi men 
can look the future in the face with more of confidence than those who till 
tin 1 soil. 



PROGRESS IN CIVIL ENGINEERING 

By WALTER LOEING WEBB,C.E., 

Atssitstant J'rof. of (Jiril Engineering, University of Pennsylvania. 

I. AX INTRODUCTORY VIK'.V. 

If we broadly define civil engineering as the art of construction, then th<: 
birth of the art is as old as the emergence of man from savagery. The 

Bavage who hollows out a log of wood in order to construct a canoe has taken 
the first step in the art of shipbuilding; and when he has constructed a hut, 
however rude, to take the place, as an abode, of the cave hollowed out by 
nature, he lias moved one step nearer to those triumphs of building construc- 
tion which satisfy man's necessities, comforts, and aesthetic desires. From 
this standpoint civil engineering is as old as the oldest of the arts and 
sciences. Not only is civil engineering an ancient art, but when the archae- 
ologist points to sunn' of the masterpieces of building construction which 
have been literally hidden from view by the debris of centuries, and describes 
the old roads which the disintegrating forces of nature, working for centuries, 
have not been able to destroy, it is natural to assume that in many features 
the civil engineering of the present day is but a copy of ancient work, or, 
at least, that there has been comparatively little real progress. It may be 
claimed that bridges are very old, that canals, lighthouses, and roads ante- 
date; the Christian era, and that even the ancient Egyptians knew that the 
earth is round, and had made a rough computation of its diameter. But it 
will be shown that even in these cases there has been an enormous advance, 
not only in the character and magnitude of the work done, but also in an- 
other feature of civil engineering which is frequently overlooked, namely, 
the economy of labor and material. Civil engineering lias been defined as the 
art of doing well with oik; dollar what any bungler fan do somehow with 
two dollars. This definition, although very loose and one-sided, nevertheless 
contains a, very important truth. If by improved methods a canal or a bridge 
can be constructed for one half to one third of what it would have cost by 
older methods, then the world has advanced, in that it may have two or three 
canals or bridges at the same cost, of labor as would have been previously 
required for the construction of one. When we add to this a vast improve- 
ment, in quality, an improvement that would have been previously impossible 
at any cost, flu; world's advance is hardly measurable by any standard. It 
is a well-known fact that many engineering works, justly considered master- 
pieces at the time of their construction, could now be replaced by a much 
better structure for a comparatively small part of their original cost. This 
statement not only applies to very old constructions, but even to some of the 
great engineering works of the latter half of this century. Some of these 
reconstructions have actually occurred, as is illustrated in the Victoria tubu- 
lar bridge at Montreal, or the Koebling suspension bridge at Niagara Falls, 
— described later. In fact, the progress in civil engineering during the nine- 
teenth century is chiefly made up of the enormous advances which have been 



340 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

made during the latter half of the century. It should not be argued that 
these recent constructions are cheaper, because " everything is cheaper now." 
The general scale of wages has advanced, and the total cost of construction 
is cheaper, only because improved methods of work "have reduced the labor 
required to produce finished building material from the raw product and to 
erect that material into a structure. Therefore in considering in detail the 
construction of the great masterpieces of this century, we should not lose 
sight of the enormous advance in general methods of work, which has ren- 
dered it possible to have all of these structures which so minister to the 
prosperity of the world, at such a reduced cost in labor. 

A complete discussion of the century's progress in civil engineering would 
require a treatise on all modern practice as well as a description of nearly 
all of the great engineering masterpieces in existence, but the limitations of 
this article utterly preclude the possibility of even a short discussion of all 
the branches of the science, to say nothing of a detailed description of all of 
the examples. The following discussion will therefore be confined to those 
branches in which the advance has been most notable, even to the unscien- 
tific reader, the progress being illustrated by brief statements regarding the 
most typical constructions. 

II. BRIDGES. 

Not only is there evidence that bridges of the simplest forms have been 
used from prehistoric times, but the engineering world has been frequently 
surprised at the discovery, in semi-barbarous lands where there was evidently 
no scientific knowledge of bridge construction, of a bridge which, in its me- 
chanical analysis, is a rude example of some one of the more complicated 
types now in use. But these bridges are always small, and are constructed 
with an utter disregard of that economy of construction which is one of the 
great triumphs of modern bridge engineering, being uselessly strong in some 
parts, considering their weakness in others. At the beginning of this cen- 
tury there was not a wrought-iron or steel bridge in existence. Disregarding 
stone arches for the present, all other bridges were made of wood — with the 
exception of a few bridges of cast iron, which were constructed during the 
latter part of the eighteenth century. But cast-iron is unsuitable for pieces 
requiring tensile strength ; it is also difficult to cast very large pieces with 
any assurance of uniformity. The best existing examples of cast-iron bridges 
are, therefore, those of the arch type ; but these are very heavy in proportion 
to their real strength, and would now be much more costly than, as well as 
inferior to, steel bridges of equal strength. Therefore the great advance in 
bridge work during this century consists in the development of steel bridge 
construction, and a brief description will be given of a few bridges which 
represent the chief types. 

Brooklyn Bridge. — The suspension bridge between New York and 
Brooklyn is the largest bridge of its kind in existence, and, until the con- 
struction of the " Forth " bridge, was the longest clear span ever built. 
Every one is so familiar with this stupendous structure that only a few 
statements will be made, which may give a better idea af the magnitude of 
the unprecedented problem which confronted the great engineer, John A. 
Roebling. When looking at the exceedingly graceful design of the towers, 



342 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

one is apt to forget that a large part of the structure of each tower is hidden 
from view. The bottom of the foundation of the pier, on the New York 
side, is 78 feet below mean high tide, and spreads over an area 172 feet long 
and 102 feet wide. The pressure exerted by the caisson on its base is about 
114,000 tons, or 6£ tons per square foot. This great area, .'!54 feet below the 
parapet of the towers, is a surface consisting partly of bed-rock and partly 
of a material so compact that it was found to be almost impossible to drive 
an iron bar into it. Down below the mud, below all danger of scour, far 
below the depth where the dreaded teredo navalis can destroy the timber in 
the caissons, these piers rest on an immovable foundation, and are an imper- 
ishable monument of man's skill. The floor of the bridge is supported by 
four cables, each containing 6300 wires. Each wire is supposed to be sub- 
jected to a stress of about 570 pounds, and to have an ultimate strength of 
3400 pounds. To say that each cable is pulled b} r a force of 3,591,000 pounds 
conveys but little real impression to the mind — as little as to say that it 
would require a pull of over 21,000,000 pounds to break it. And there are 
four such cables ! The main span, including the weight of the cables, weighs 
about 5000 tons. Some interesting facts concerning the caissons under the 
piers of this bridge will lie given under the heading of "Caissons." 

Niagara Railway Arch. — The railway suspension bridge, constructed 
by Mr. John A. Roebling across the Niagara gorge in 1853-55, was justly 
considered a monument to the skill of a, great engineer, a monument of the 
world's progress ; and yet so rapid has been the advance in the art of bridge 
engineering, that this great structure is already a thing of the past, and lias 
now been replaced by another bridge which better fulfills the increased 
requirements. It was not that Boebling"s 1 nidge was an engineering failure, 
but that the large increase in the weight and length of trains now requires a 
much stronger bridge. There Avere several formidable conditions confront- 
ing the engineer who designed the steel arch which has now replaced the 
suspension bridge. For one thing, a heavy railroad traffic was using the old 
bridge. The interruption of railroad traffic for even a few days is a serious 
matter. Extend the time to several months, and the consequences are too 
serious for toleration. And thus it became necessary to so plan and con- 
struct the arch that both structures would occupy the same site, not interfere 
with each other, and not interfere with the running of trains. It is an amaz- 
ing, almost inconceivable, triumph of constructive skill that this was accom- 
plished so that " not a single train was delayed, and traffic on the highway 
floor was suspended only for about two hours each day, while the upper floor 
system was being put in." The second rigid requirement was the necessity 
for constructing the arch without any " false works " underneath. Of course 
it was not practicable to suspend the various members of the arch during 
construction, from the old bridge, as it was not designed for such a load. Nor 
would it have been possible to plant false works in the deep and swift 
current of the Niagara Elver. And so it became necessary to make each 
half of the bridge self-supporting, as it hung out over the raging torrent a 
distance of about 275 feet from the abutments, until the two projecting arms 
could be joined in the centre. The illustration does not show the independ- 
ence of the arch from the old bridge. If the old bridge had not been there 
(as was virtually the case, so far as support given by it is concerned), the 



344 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 

independence of those arms reaching out over the river would have been 
more apparent. Add to all these rigorous conditions the marvelous fact 
that the erection of this great arch was begun on September 17, 1896, and 
that the bridge was tested on July 29, 1897 (only 315 days afterward), and 
we have here one of the greatest triumphs of engineering which could be 
imagined. 

Pecos River Viaduct. — The original location of the Galveston, Harris- 
burg, and San Antonio Railway included a section of about 25 miles which 
was very difficult to operate, on account of its very heavy grades and sharp 
curvature. After some years of study and surveying, a line was found which 
would save 11.2 miles in distance, 378 feet of rise and fall, and 1933 degrees 
of curvature, besides being free from land slides which threatened the old 
line at many points. Rut the great economic advantages in the expenses of 
operating could only be obtained at the cost of an almost unprecedented 
structure, — a viaduct 2180 feet long, which should cross the Pecos River at 
an elevation of 320 feet 10^ inches above the water surface. There are two 
bridges in Europe which span very deep gorges by arches, which are higher 
above the water than this viaduct, but in such cases the depth of gorge is of 
no engineering importance. There is also a viaduct for a narrow-gauge rail- 
way in Bolivia, 800 feet long and with a height of 336 feet from the rails to 
the water. But the Pecos viaduct is built to carry standard-gauge railway 
traffic over a valley nearly half a mile wide, and at such a height that a train 
moving over it appears diminutive. The stone towers in the illustration 
appear small, but they are constructed to a height of over 50 feet above the 
ordinary level of the water, to allow for possible floods. The longest "bents" 
have a height of 241 feet Of inches. ISTo u false works " were used in erect- 
ing the bridge. The " traveler." shown in the illustration, had an arm 124 
feet 6 inches long. After completing the construction on one side of the 
river (including one half of the " suspended " span immediately over the 
river), the traveler was taken apart, loaded on cars and transported by rail 
a distance of nearly 40 miles, in order to reach the other side of the valley. 
Then the construction was carried on as before, until the two halves of the 
suspended span met in the centre. The work of erection began November 
3, 1891, and on February 20, 1892 (only 108 days later), the two halves of 
the suspended span were connected. A portion even of this time was lost 
by inclement weather and unavoidable delays. This light "spider-web" 
method of construction for crossing very high valleys was originated by 
American engineers, the first notable instance of it being the construction 
of the " Kinzua " viaduct,' on the X. Y. L. E. & W. R. R., which has a length 
of 2050 feet and a height of 302 feet above the water — figures which are 
only slightly less than the above. 

Forth Bridge. — The next type of bridge to be considered has for its 
example the largest bridge in the world — the "cantilever" crossing the 
Firth of Forth, in Scotland. The economic design of bridges of this type, 
on the basis of the mechanical principles involved, is not only an achieve- 
ment of this century, but of the latter part of the century. Nevertheless, we- 
may find illustrations of the fundamental principle in the stone lintels in an 
Egyptian temple ; in a rough wooden bridge erected by Indians in Canada, 
near the line of the Canadian Pacific Railroad ; and in a bridge erected over 



PROGRESS IN CIVIL ENGINEERING 



345 



two hundred years ago in Thibet, and discovered in 1783 by Lieutenant 
Davis, of the English embassy to the court of the Teshoo Lama. The 
principle of these bridges is very graphically shown by a photograph made 
at the time of the construction of the Forth bridge. 

This bridge joins two sections of Scotland which had been previously 
separated by an arm of the sea, which could only be crossed by a tedious 
ferry. Even this ferry was frequently tied up by fog or by the strong gales 
which so often blow up the channel. The prevalence of heavy wind pressure 
demanded that special attention should be given to this feature, and the most 
elaborate tests ever made of the effect of wind on a bridge structure formed a 




PECOS KIVER VIADUCT. 



part of the preliminary work. The estuaiy, for a distance of nearly fifty 
miles, is never less than two miles wide, except at this one place, where it is 
but little more than one mile wide, with the added advantage of having the 
island of Inchgarvie nearly in the centre of the channel. The channel on 
both sides is about two hundred feet deep, which would forbid the location 
of a pier at any place except on this island, which, being composed of basaltic 
trap rock, furnished a sufficient foundation at a comparatively slight depth 
below the surface. To secure the maximum rigidity consistent with economy 
in weight, the " vertical columns " of the towers were spaced 120 feet apart at 
the base, but only 33 feet apart at the top. The towers are 330 feet high. As 
shown in the illustration, the cross-sectional dimensions of the cantilevers 
diminish rapidly both in width and height, so that although the weight of 
the steel per running foot at the towers is 23 tons, it becomes only a little- 
over two tons per foot at the centre. The structure is exceptionally rigid. 



346 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 

The picture of any gigantic structure, especially when well proportioned, 
utterly fails to give an adequate idea of the size of its component parts. It 
is difficult to realize from the illustration that the four tubular " vertical col- 
umns " on each main pier are twelve feet each in diameter at the base — large 
enough for "a coach and four " to drive into, if they were laid horizontally. 
Over 50,000 tons of steel were used in the main spans. The total cost of 
the whole structure was over £3,200,000 ($16,000,000). 

Stone Arches. — The nineteenth century has but little to claim as to the 
development of stone arches. The mechanical theory of their stresses is per- 
haps better understood now than ever, and the largest masonry arch in ex- 
istence (the Cabin John arch, having a span of 220 feet, carrying the Wash- 
ington aqueduct over a creek) is a piece of American work of this century. 
But it should not be forgotten that more than five hundred years ago there was 
constructed at Trezzo, Italy, a granite arch of 251 feet span. This arch was 
unfortunately destroyed in 1427. One of the most remarkable arches in ex- 
istence was designed and built by an "uneducated" stone-mason at Pont-y- 
Prydd. Wales, in 1750. A rigorous analysis of its strains — of which the de- 
signer probably knew nothing — shows that the '-line of resistance" passes 
almost exactly through the centre of the arch ring. The most highly edu- 
cated engineer of the present day could do no better. On the other hand, the 
development of the theory has been shown by the successful construction of an 
exceedingly bold design for a bridge on the Bourbonnais Railway, in France. 
The span is 124 feet, and the rise only 6.92 feet. . The design was considered 
so very bold that a model of the arch was first constructed and tested before 
the design was finally adopted. The extension of the use of stone arches, 
especially those of very large size, is doubtless prevented by their excessive 
initial cost over the cost of a steel structure of equal span and strength. 
Since a stone arch is generally considered more beautiful than a steel bridge, 
the a\?thetical element often demands the construction of stone arches in 
public parks in situations where a metal structure would be more economical. 
The great reduction in the cost of steel during the past few years, due to im- 
proved processes of manufacture, generally renders the cost of a steel bridge, 
even with a proper allowance for maintenance, repairs, and renewals, cheaper 
than a stone arch, unless the span is short. 

III. CAISSONS. 

The use of compressed air to keep back the water that would naturally flow 
through the soil into a deep excavation is a comparatively recent idea. In 
1839 M. Triger, a French engineer, conceived the idea of sinking an iron cylin- 
der through twenty metres of quicksand in the valley of the Loire Kiver, in 
order to reach a valuable coal deposit which was known to be located beneath 
the river. A chamber with doors, such as is now called an air-lock, was con- 
structed at the top of the cylinder. To pass into the cylinder the lower door, 
opening downward, Avas closed, and when the air in the chamber was at atmo- 
spheric pressure, the upper door, also opening downward, was opened. Upon 
entering the chamber the upper door was shut, and air was pumped in until 
the pressure equaled the pressure in the cylinder underneath, which was also 
the pressure necessary to keep back the water from the excavation. The 
lower door could then be opened and the working chamber entered. To pass 



PROGRESS IN CIVIL ENGINEERING 



347 



out, the reverse process in inverse order was necessary. This was the first 
pneumatic caisson ever sunk, although such plans had been proposed and 
even patented in England several years before. The idea was essentially the 
present plan, but the process has been improved and enlarged. The required 
pressure is substantially that due to the weight of a column of water as high 
as the depth of the base of the caisson below the water surface. In the case 
of the St. Louis bridge, the bottom of the caisson was sunk to 109 feet 8| 
inches below the water surface, which required an air pressure of about 47 
pounds per square inch in the working chamber. Such a pressure is danger- 




FORMAL OPENING OF SUEZ CANAL. 
Procession of Ships in Canal, November 16, 18G9. 

ous to those working in it. The men literally " live fast." Great exertion is 
easily made, but is followed by corresponding exhaustion after leaving the 
caisson. Those having heart disease, or who have been debilitated by previous 
excesses, are liable to be seriously affected — generally by a form of paralysis 
which has been specifically named by physicians the " caisson disease." At 
the St. Louis bridge, when working at the greatest depths, the men were only 
worked four hours per day, in two-hour shifts. Facilities were likewise pro- 
vided to have them bathe, rest, and take hot coffee on coining out of the work- 
ing chamber. Healthy men, who observed these and similar precautions, were 
not permanently affected by the work. 

The caissons of the New York and Brooklyn suspension bridge are the 
largest ever constructed, and a bald account of some of the experiences en- 
countered is fairly dramatic. Under such air pressures the flame of a candle 



348 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

will return when blown out, and so the danger of fire inside the wooden cais- 
sons became very serious. One evening a fire was discovered in one of the 
caissons, caused presumably by a workman holding a candle temporarily 
against the wooden roof while searching for his dinner pail. When discovered 
it was apparent that the fire had burned out a cavity in the solid timber roof, 
and the supply of compressed air was fast turning those timbers into a mass 
of living coal. Two pipes capable of throwing one and one half inch streams 
had been provided for this express contingency, and the two streams were 
turned on as quickly as possible. All night the fight went on. At 4 A. m., 
when the water was pouring out of the orifice of the cavity as fast as it was 
sent in by the hose, it seemed as if the cavity must have been thoroughly 
flooded and the fire out. To make sure of the absolute extinction of the fire, 
borings were made, which showed that the fire had worked its way along in- 
dividual timbers, especially those which were " fat " with resin, and that the 
fourth roof course was still a mass of burning timber. It was then decided 
that the caisson must be flooded, which was done by pumping in 1,350,000 
gallons of water. After flooding the caisson for two and one half days, it was 
pumped out and the work examined. It required the services of eighteen 
carpenters, working day and night for two months, to repair the damage 
caused by that fire. 

When the Brooklyn caisson was twenty -five feet below the water level, the 
boulders encountered became so large that blasting became necessary. But 
blasting inside of a caisson was hitherto an untried experiment. It was 
feared that the men would be injured ; that their ear-drums would break by 
a sudden explosion in that confined space under heavy air pressure ; that a 
"blow out " might occur, i. e.. that the compressed air might suddenly escape 
past the edges, and that an inflow of water would then drown the men. At 
first a pistol was fired, gradually using heavier charges ; then a small blast 
was set off. Encouraged by their freedom from resulting complications, the 
blasts were gradually increased, until they finally used as heavy blasts as was 
desired, the men simply stepping into an adjoining chamber to avoid flying 
fragments ; and an increase in the rate of progress was at once apparent, the 
caisson being lowered from twelve to eighteen inches, rather than only six 
inches, per week. 

The caissons of the bridge across the Firth of Forth, Scotland, are exam- 
ples of the great development of the caisson idea. The pneumatic caisson of 
Triger, in 1839, had but one air lock, through which must pass men, excavated 
material, and constructive material for linings, etc. This plan meant slow 
and expensive work. The caissons of the Brooklyn bridge were a vast im- 
provement over this plan, both on the score of economy and safety. In the 
Forth bridge the caissons were made almost wholly of iron, thus avoiding the 
danger of the fire which so nearly wrecked the caisson of the Brooklyn bridge. 
The careless or premature opening of the doors of air locks, which once nearly 
caused a serious accident on the Brooklyn caisson, was rendered impossible 
by a very elaborate system of interlocking. The efficiency of the apparatus 
for removing excavated material from the compressed air chamber was also 
greatly increased. Electric lights were used instead of gas or candles. 

" Freezing Process." — This process is mentioned here on account of the 
analogy of its object to that of pneumatic caissons — sinking a shaft through 



PROGRESS IN CIVIL ENGINEERING 



349 



excessively soft wet soil. The process is very recent, it having been invented 
by Dr. F. H. Poetsch, of Prussia, in 1883. It has been used only in a very 
few cases up to the present time, but where it has been used it has accom- 
plished results which were practically unattainable by ordinary methods. A 
very brief description of one instance of its use will explain the general idea. 
For many years engineers had been baffled in their attempts to sink a shaft 
through 107 feet of quicksand at the Centrum mine, near Berlin, Germany. 
Dr. Poetsch sunk sixteen pipes in a circle around the proposed location of the 
shaft, and in thirty-three days had succeeded in producing a frozen circular 
wall six feet thick, within which the excavation was readily made and the 
shaft suitably lined. The freezing is accomplished by circulating a freezing 
liquid (chloride of calcium) through the tubes. After the shaft is completed 




MANCHESTER SHIP CANAL. 

the pipes can be thawed loose from the wall of ice by simply circulating a hot 
liquid instead of a cold one. The pipes can then be redrawn uninjured, and 
used over again — a consideration of no small advantage. The process is not 
cheap. It would seldom, if ever, be used where the more common methods 
are practicable ; but for passing through very soft and wet soils it is fre- 
quently the only possible method. 



IV. CANALS. 

History records the construction of a ship canal across the Suez Isthmus 
as early as 600 b. c. ; that it continued in use for about 1400 years and was 
then abandoned. It was very small ; all traces of it are now utterly lost. 
The authentic records of it are very meagre, and they serve only to show the 
great antiquity of the canal idea. The nineteenth-century progress on this 
line, therefore, consists in the enormously greater magnitude of the works 
.accomplished in the solution of the great subsidiary problems involved, and 



350 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

in the improvement in methods of work which has rendered these great struc- 
tures possible. The limitations of this article utterly forbid even a brief de- 
scription of all the great canals which have been constructed during this 
century, and it must therefore be confined to a few statements regarding the 
more important and typical constructions. It might be thought that no dis- 
cussion of nineteenth-century canals would be complete without a mention 
of the Nicaragua and Panama canal projects. But these stupendous works 
which will eclipse anything of the kind which the world has ever seen, are not 
yet accomplished facts. The twentieth century will be well under way before a 
trip " around the Horn " will become unnecessary. The successful completion 
of one of these canals will, very probably, so reduce the demand for the other 
that its construction will be indefinitely postponed. These canals will not be 
further considered. 

Suez Caxal. — This great work permits a reduction of about 3750 miles 
in the length of a voyage from Western Europe to India. Compared Avith 
some of the other great canals of the world, its construction was easy. The 
total length between termini is about 101 statute miles, of which about nine 
miles required no excavation ; sixteen miles more required only a slight exca- 
vation to make the channel of sufficient depth through existing dry depres- 
sions, called " lakes ; " and the remaining seventy-six miles of excavation were 
cut chiefly through a soft alluvial soil. At only one point did the excavation 
reach fifty or sixty feet in depth, and here also was found the only instance of 
rock excavation. Even this rock (gypsum) was so soft that part of it was ex- 
cavated by the steam shovels. About 80,000,000 cubic yards of material were 
removed. If this material had been loaded on to cars carrying twenty-five 
cubic yards per car. made up into trains of twenty cars per train, and the 
trains were strung along at the rate of five per mile, it would have required 
32,000 miles of such trains to transport the material that was excavated. 
Work was actually begun in 1860. The Viceroy of Egypt originally agreed 
to furnish the laborers required, and at one time about 30,000 laborers were 
thus employed. On a change of administration in Egypt, the new Viceroy 
refused to furnish the native labor, and it then became necessary to import 
labor from Europe, and to supplement this insufficient and high-priced supply 
of labor by very large dredging machines, or steam shovels, of which about 
sixty were employed. The task of supplying water for the vast army of work- 
men was an engineering feat of no mean character and cost, as the entire 
route lies through an arid desert. A system of waterworks, having its source 
at Cairo, on the Nile, and distributing the water throughout the length of the 
canal, was therefore constructed. In the latter part of 1869, the waters of 
the Red and Mediterranean seas were joined, large arid depressions had been 
transformed into great lakes, and ocean-going vessels were sailing through 
what had been a desert. The canal is 26 feet deep, 72 feet wide at the bot- 
tom, the sides sloping variably, according to the nature of the material, the 
resulting width at the top varying from 190 to 328 feet. Although not deep 
enough for the very largest vessels afloat, it will accommodate the great bulk 
of ocean travel, including war vessels. The total cost of this work, including 
the breakwaters, lighthouses, etc., at each terminus, was, approximately, 
£20,000,000, or $100,000,000. 

Unlike most canals, the Suez canal has no locks. The original plan of the 




"f 

"5 <° 



352 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

Panama canal did not include locks, but the revised plan provided for them, 
in order to save excessive cutting. The Nicaragua canal scheme necessarily 
includes locks. The water for the Suez canal comes directly from the seas 
which are connected. A canal with locks necessarily requires an ample water 
supply from some river or fresh-water lake. If the Suez canal had been con- 
structed at a higher level than the Mediterranean and Red seas, had been 
supplied with water from the Nile, and had, therefore, been constructed with 
suitable locks at each end (as was actually recommended by some engineers), 
the cost of construction, as well as the perpetual expense of maintenance, 
would have been greatly in excess of its actual cost. And so the fact that it 
was possible to construct the canal without locks, and without providing for 
a supply of water, was a great advantage that facilitated the promotion of the 
enterprise. 

Manchester Canal. — This canal, having a total length of only thirty- 
five and one half miles, has transformed the city of Manchester, England, 
from an inland city to a seaport. Actual excavation was begun in No- 
vember, 1887, and just six years afterwards the whole canal was filled 
with water. It has a depth of 26 feet, and a width at the bottom of from 
120 to 170 feet, thus giving a greater capacity than the Suez canal or the 
proposed Panama canal. Some of the greatest difficulties involved arose 
from the necessity of providing for the existing canals and railroads with 
which that busy portion of England is so crowded. Perhaps the most in- 
teresting feat of engineering was the drawbridge carrying the Duke of 
Bridgewater's canal at Barton. This small canal, having originally a depth 
of only four and one half feet, here crosses the River Irwell. It was justly 
considered a great feat of engineering when James Brindley constructed the 
canal, during the eighteenth century, so that it crossed the river on a via- 
duct. A waterway crossing a waterway on a viaduct was then a new idea. 
But this old canal was constructed considerably above the desired level of 
the Manchester canal, and yet, of course, not so high that a masted ship 
might pass under it. Therefore a draw became necessary. To add to the 
complication, the water supply of the small canal being somewhat limited, 
it was considered very undesirable to lose a troughful of water (roughly, 
200,000 gallons) each time the draw was opened. To allow this water to 
flow into a tank and then pump it back would consume too much time, to 
say nothing of the expense. Therefore the bridge must swing with the 
trough full of water. That required gates at each end of the draw, as 
well as at the ends of the canal on each abutment. These gates were 
comparatively simple ; but the difficult problem was to ensure a water-tight 
joint between the ends of the draw trough and the corresponding ends of 
the canal. Temperature changes, as well as many other considerations, 
would preclude the possibility of making even a fairly tight joint by swing- 
ing the draw to a close fit with the abutments. The desired result was 
accomplished by placing at each end of the draw a very short U-shaped 
structure, having the same cross section as the cross section of the trough, 
and having beveled ends fitting corresponding bevels on the ends of the 
trough. These beveled ends are faced with rubber. To open the draw 
the gates are closed, the water between the gates at each end (a com- 
paratively small amount) is drained off and wasted, the U-shaped wedges 



354 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

are raised, and the draw is then free to turn. The wedges are operated by 
hydraulic rams. 

Chicago Drainage Canal. — It will probably be a surprise to many 
people to learn that this " drainage " canal has a greater cross section 
throughout the " earth-work " sections than any ship canal in existence, and 
is only exceeded through the rock sections by the Manchester canal. The 
city of Chicago obtains its water supply from Lake Michigan. The " intake " 
pipe was at first located comparatively near the shore. As the population of 
the city grew and the volume of its sewage increased, it was observed that 
the Avater supply was becoming contaminated. The Chicago River, into 
which the sewage was emptied, became so foul that the odor was intolerable. 
The very evident fact of this odor probably had more to do with the promotion 
and accomplishment of the means of relief adopted than the far less evident 
but very dangerous pollution of the water supply. An extension of the in- 
take pipe to a point several miles from shore by means of a tunnel (which 
was in itself a notable feat of engineering) only deferred the time when the 
water supply would again be fatally contaminated if the sewage continued to 
flow into the lake. It was accordingly determined to dispose of the sewage 
by discharging it into an artificial channel where it might become diluted 
with water from Lake Michigan, and thence pass from the watershed of the 
Great Lakes to the watershed of the Mississippi. The level of Lake Michi- 
gan is so high that there was no trouble about obtaining the requisite grade, 
and the divide between the watersheds is so low that the depth of the re- 
quired cutting at the summit was not forbidding. But why have such a large 
canal ? It was required that the sewage should be diluted, so as not to be- 
come offensive to the inhabitants of the region through which the canal must 
pass. The law under which the work was authorized required that the flow 
should be 600,000 cubic feet per minute, and that the minimum width at the 
bottom of the channel must be 160 feet. According to the well-known laws 
of hydraulics, it was seen that a deep canal would have a greater capacity per 
unit of excavation than a very wide shallow canal. This is especially true 
through the sections of deepest cut, since excavation above the water line adds 
nothing whatever to the capacity for flow. The sections adopted called for a 
depth of water of 22 feet. The side walls in rock are practically vertical, the 
Width of channel being 160 feet at the bottom and 162 feet at the top. In 
earthwork the cross section is larger than in rock, thus reducing the velocity 
of flow and danger of scouring the banks. The width of channel at the bot- 
tom is 202 feet, the width at the water surface being 290 feet, and the side 
slopes 2 horizontal to 1 vertical. 

A very expensive feature of this great work was the necessity for con- 
structing a diversion channel for the Desplaines River throughout bhat por- 
tion of the river valley occupied by the canal. Lack of space forbids a 
furthur discussion of this feature. The canal drains into the Desplaines 
River at a point where the slope of the river is so great that there will never 
be danger that a strong west wind or an unusual lowering of the level of 
Lake Michigan can possibly cause the current to flow eastward. 

Work on the canal was commenced only after many years of discussion, 
planning, legislation, litigation, and bitter opposition by the varied inter- 
ests which considered themselves more or less injured. But the work was 



PROGRESS IN CIVIL ENGINEERING 355 

actually commenced in July, 1892. The estimated excavation was approxi- 
mately 40,000,000 cubic yards — about one half that of the Suez canal; but 
the length is only 29 miles, compared with 101 miles for the Suez canal. The 
total cost was estimated at something over $ 27,000,000. On August 22. 1900, 
the Congressional River and Harbor Committee approved the work as far as 
completed. 

V. GEODESY. 

It may be that many, who have read of the incredulity of all Europe when 
the voyages of navigators during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries first 
demonstrated the sphericity of the earth, will be surprised to learn that this 
knowledge had been acquired almost two thousand years before, and had 
since then been forgotten. To Eratosthenes, a Grecian, belongs the honor of 
first making a measurement (about the year 230 b. c.) of the size of the earth, 
which, while very rude and inaccurate, used the same fundamental principle 
as is now employed by geodesists. But the appliances of those ancient 
Grecians and of the Arabians, who later carried on the work, were exceed- 
ingly crude. Even during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when 
the French, English, and Dutch were working very hard on the problem, and 
were gradually obtaining results which came closer and closer to those now 
known to be correct, the appliances for measuring angles were so rough and 
inaccurate that it was only possible to assert that the earth is spherical ; with 
a diameter of about 7900 miles. The seventeenth century was nearly past 
when Picard first used spider lines to determine the "line of collimation," 
or the true line of sight, in a telescope. This marked a new era in methods 
of work, but the eighteenth century was about half gone when it was first 
authoritatively proven that the earth is not a sphere, but is more truly an 
"oblate spheroid," — such a figure as would be obtained by flattening a sphere 
at the poles. Some idea of the accuracy of the work done, even at this stage, 
may be obtained by considering that the computed flattening is so slight that 
if we had a perfect reproduction of the earth, reduced to a diameter of 12 
inches, the flattening would be less than 2 V of an inch — almost imperceptible 
even to a trained eye. The very highest mountain would be considerably less 
than t 1q of an inch in height on such a sphere. 

The present marvelous state of the science is due to the great improve- 
ments which have been made in the construction and use of angle-measuring 
instruments and of " base bars ; " also to the development of the mathemati- 
cal theory and processes involved, notably that of the "method of least 
squares." As an illustration of the accuracy attainable in the construction 
of theodolites, the writer recently made an elaborate test of the error of the 
centering of one of these angle-measuring instruments. Of course no direct 
measurement is possible. The result is based on a long series of observa- 
tions, which, when combined according to certain mathematical principles, 
will give the desired result. The error was thus computed to be forty-two 
milliontlis of an inch. To realize what is meant when an angle is measured 
with a "probable error" of a few hundredths of a second of arc, it should be 
remembered that one second of arc on a circle 10 inches in diameter is less 
than 4- ff ^oT> °f an inch. The accuracy which has been attained in the mea- 
surement of base lines is not easily realized by a layman. An engineer 
realizes the practical impossibility of measuring a line twice and obtaining 



356 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

precisely the same result to the finest unit of measurement. The initiated 
are therefore able to appreciate the achievement of measuring a base line 
having a length of over nine miles, with a " probable error" of less than one 
five-millionth of its length. The words "probable error,'-' as used above, have 
a scientifically exact meaning, but they may be taken by the uninitiated as 
representing a measure of the precision obtained. 

At about the close of the last century the great mathematician, Laplace, 
had declared that the results of the surveys which had then been made were 
inconsistent with the theory that the form of the earth is exactly that of an 
oblate spheroid. That form would require that the equator and all parallels 
of latitude shall be true circles, and that all meridian sections shall be equal 
ellipses. Laplace showed that the discrepancies between the actual results 
obtained and the results which the theory would call for are too great to be 
considered as mere inaccuracies in the work done. With the extension, dur- 
ing this century, of the great geodetic surveys, carried on by the various 
governments of the world, more and more evidence has developed that the 
meridian sections of the earth are not equal, which is equivalent to saying 
that the equator is not a perfect circle. This has led to the next stage, which 
has been to prove that the form of the earth may be more closely represented 
by an " ellipsoid " than by a spheroid, that is, that every section of the earth 
is an ellipse. Several calculations have been made to determine the length 
and location of the principal axes of such a figure. But these calculations 
are considered unsatisfactory, because evidence has developed that the true 
form of the earth cannot be represented even by an ellipsoid. This figure 
is symmetrical above and below the equator. There are reasons for believing 
that the southern hemisphere of the earth is slightly larger than the northern, 
and that the form of the earth is more nearly that of an "ovaloid," — a figure 
of which the ordinary hen's egg is an exaggerated example. 

All the above forms, the sphere, spheroid, ellipsoid, and ovaloid are geo- 
metrical forms which represent with more and more exactness the true form 
of the earth, but even this increasing exactness will not account for the dis- 
crepancies and irregularities which have been found at various places, and 
which cannot be explained on the ground of inaccurate work. Geodesists 
have been forced to the conclusion that the true form of the earth is not a 
regular geometrical form, but is a "geoid," that is, like the earth and like 
nothing else, unless we admit the exaggerated comparison that it is " like a 
potato." It should be understood that the words " form of the earth " do 
not refer to the actual surface of mountain, valley, or ocean bottom, but to 
the actual ocean surface, and to the surface which the free ocean would 
assume if it could penetrate into the heart of the continents. The astound- 
ing accuracy of the work done may be appreciated when we consider that the 
differences between the "geoid" and the more accurate mathematical forms 
are distances which should be measured in feet rather than in miles. For 
many purposes, it is sufficiently exact to consider the earth as a sphere. 
For some very precise work it is necessary to consider it as a spheroid. The 
more exact forms have little or no utilitarian value, and the vast amount of 
work that has been spent on these researches has been due to man's thirst 
for knowledge as such, — due to the same enthusiasm which advances the 
sciences in fields which only broaden man's knowledge of the world in which 
we live. 



PROGRESS IN CIVIL ENGINEERING 357 



VI. RAILROADS. 

The achievements of engineering skill on the line of bridges, canals, tun- 
nels, etc., have been great, but their effect is insignificant compared with 
the social revolution that was created by the invention and development 
of railroads. The railroads of this country represent a value of about 
$12,000,000,000 — one sixth of the national wealth. Their pay-rolls include 
about 850,000 employees — ^ of the working population. They support, 
directly or indirectly, about 5,000,000 people. They collect an annual revenue 
of about $1,200,000,000, which is greater than the value of the combined pro- 
ducts of gold, silver, iron, coal, and other minerals, wheat, rye, oats, barley, 
potatoes, and tobacco, produced by the entire nation. Such a stupendous 
social institution requires special discussion, and it will be found treated 
separately under the heading of "Evolution of the Railway." 

VII. TUNNELS. 

Tunnels are of exceedingly ancient origin, if by tunnels we include all 
artificial underground excavations. From prehistoric times natural caves 
have been used as burial places, and, following this practice, tunnels and 
artificial rock chambers have been cut out by kings and rulers in Thebes, 
Nubia, and India during periods so ancient that we call the study of their 
history archaeology. Nor were the ancient tunnels confined to tombs. The 
Babylonians constructed tunnels through material so soft that a lining of 
brick masonry had to be used to sustain the work. The Romans constructed 
a tunnel over three and one half miles long to drain the waters of Lake 
Fucino. About 30,000 laborers were occupied on this work for eleven years. 
The nineteenth century can hardly boast of works that represent a greater 
amount of labor (measured in mere days of work) than some of these ancient 
monuments of constructive skill, but the masterpieces of this century are 
works which have been greatly aided and even rendered possible by three 
modern inventions, — compressed-air drilling machines, modern explosives, 
and the compressed-air process used in subaqueous work. The advance in 
methods of tunnel surveying is as great and nearly as important. Progress 
in excavating tunnels is necessarily slow, because the working face is so 
small that only a few men can work there at a time, and the rate of advance 
depends upon them. As an illustration : although the Mont Cenis tunnel 
belongs to the latter half of this century, the first blast being made in 1857, 
yet for the first four years hand drilling was employed, when the average 
progress was about nine inches per day. Then machine drilling with com- 
pressed air was adopted, when the rate of advance was multiplied five times. 
The invention of compressed-air drills simultaneously solved two difficulties : 
(1) The compressed air furnishes an extremely convenient and safe form of 
power, which enables holes to be drilled much more rapidly than it is pos- 
sible to drill them by hand. (2) The compressed air, after doing its work, 
is exhausted into the tunnel, and thus furnishes a continuous supply of fresh 
air. The necessity for ventilation has often required the construction and 
operation of expensive ventilating plants. Add to these improvements the 
lighting of the tunnel, even during construction, by electric lights which con- 
sume no oxygen, and the comparison between ancient and modern methods 



358 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 




AMERICAN PORTAL, ST. CLAIR TUNNEL, NORTH 
OP DETROIT, MICH. 



becomes especially marked. Before the invention of explosives, hard rock 
was sometimes broken by building wood fires next to the rock, and then, 
when the rock had become very hot, cooling it suddenly with water. The 
sudden contraction would split the rock. Ventilation was attempted by wav- 
ing fans at the tunnel entrances. With torches and fires to consume the 

precious oxygen, and no effec- 
tive ventilation, it is a wonder 
how those earlier tunnels were 
constructed. The compressed 
air methods for subaqueous 
work will be referred to under 
a special case. The essential 
principles have already been 
described under caissons. 

Tunnel Surveying. — The 
tunnel surveying developed dur- 
ing this century is one of the 
marvels of surveying work. If 
a tunnel is to be several miles 
in length, not only is the exca- 
vation commenced at each end, 
but one or more intermediate 
shafts are frequently sunk to 
the level of the tunnel, and excavation is extended in each direction from 
the shafts. It is extremely important that these sections of the tunnel 
should "meet" exactly. If they should fail to do so by any appreciable 
amount, the necessary modifications are frequently costly and therefore jus- 
tify the most elaborate precautions in the surveying work, especially since 
the surveying costs much less than the consequences of such a blunder. The 
Hoosac tunnel is over 25,000 feet long. The heading from the east end met 
the heading from the central shaft at a point 11,274 feet from the east end 
and 1563 feet from the shaft. The error in alignment was five sixteenths of 
an inch, that of levels "a few hundredths," error of distance "trifling." The 
corrected alignment was then carried on toward the heading from the west 
end. which it met at a point 10,138 feet (nearly two miles) from the west end 
and 2056 feet from the shaft. Here the error of alignment was ^ of an inch 
and that of levels about 1^ inches. The surveying work of the spiral tunnels on 
the St. Gothard Railway (to be described later) is another example of marvel- 
ously accurate work under peculiarly unfavorable circumstances. 

St. Gothard Tunnel. — To appreciate the magnitude of the problem in- 
volved, of which this great tunnel is the crowning feature, some idea should 
be obtained of the Alpine topography lying between Silenen, in Switzerland, 
and Bodio, in Italy, less than forty miles apart. The idea of connecting 
Switzerland and Italy by a railroad passing over or through the Alps, by uti- 
lizing the St. Gothard Pass as far as possible, dates back to 1850, or even 
earlier. An enterprise of such magnitude could be consummated only after 
years of discussion, planning, surveying, negotiations, and even international 
agreements. In 1871 a treaty was finally ratified between Germany, Italy, and 
Switzerland, by which the construction and financiering was duly authorized. 



PROGRESS IN CIVIL ENGINEERING 



359 



On August 7, 1872. the contract for the construction was signed, with a 
proviso that the work must be completed within eight years. On April 30, 
1880, the advance headings met, and soon thereafter the mails were regu- 
larly carried through, although the tunnel was not actually completed in the 
specified time. 

The route adopted was bold enough to stagger the financier, if not the engi- 
neer. Starting from Silenen, Switzerland, it required a climb of nearly 2000 
feet to reach G-oschenen, the adopted northern portal of the tunnel. This 
would require an average grade of 200 feet per mile in the ten miles of dis- 
tance, or an actual grade of 370 feet per mile in the upper part of the line, 
if the river valley were followed. The line was therefore " developed," that 
is, the distance was purposely increased by adopting an indirect line, in order 
that the grade might be less. It was found possible to run the line from 
Silenen to Pfaffensprung, a distance of about six miles, on the comparatively 
low grade of 137 feet per mile. At this point the line suddenly plunges into 
the mountain, and curves around in a circle, which is, roughly, 2000 feet in 
diameter, while it continues an upward grade of 121 ^ feet per mile. After 
traversing 4845 feet of such tunnel, the line again emerges into the open air, 
having turned nearly three fourths of a circle in the solid rock. About 2000 
feet farther on the line actually crosses itself, the upper line there being 167^ 
feet higher than the lower line, which is at that point within the tunnel. By 
this device, which is called a spiral, the line is run at a practicable grade, and 
an elevation of 167 \ feet is surmounted by introducing 6986 feet of "develop- 
ment." Near the entrance of the Leggistein tunnel, the line is less than 500 
feet away (horizontally) from a lower part of the line, which is about 350 
feet lower in elevation. Space forbids a further description of this climb of 
2000 feet to Goschenen, where the 
line plunges into the bowels of the 
earth, and does not again emerge 
until it has traversed nine and one 
quarter miles, and has reached the 
southern slope of the Alps. Even 
here the portal is 3755 feet above 
sea level, and the valley down to 
Bodio is steeper in places than the 
valley of the Reuss. Pour spirals 
are used in descending about 2650 
feet in an air line distance of less 
than 19 miles. In one place even 
the upper line, where it crosses the 
lower line, is in solid rock. Imagine 
standing in the gloom of a tunnel 
and considering that vertically be- 
neath your feet — more than 100 
feet further down in the bowels of 
the earth — there is another tunnel belonging to the same line of road. The 
great majority of tunnels are straight. A few have curves at one or both 
ends, but nowhere else in the world can be found such examples of spiral 
tunnels carved out of the living rock. 




INTERIOI! OP ST. CLAFR TUNNEL, NORTH 
OP DETROIT, MICH. 



360 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

St. Clair Tunnel. — A glance at a map of lower Canada and Michigan 
will show that all the rail traffic of lower Canada, and even that from Montreal 
and Quebec, that passes as far west as Chicago, must either cross the Detroit 
River at Detroit or the St. Clair River, at or near Port Huron. Plans for 
bridging the river have been frequently made, but the Canadian government 
has steadily refused permission. The traffic along the river in 1896 amounted 
to over 35,000,000 tons, or more than was shipped at the ports of either New 
York, London, or Liverpool, and greatly in excess of that which passed 
through the Suez canal. Such traffic must not be impeded even by a draw- 
bridge ; and therefore a tunnel was the only alternative. The problem was in 
many respects unique. Borings showed that the tunnel must pass through 
clay and occasional pockets of quicksand, and therefore it would be necessary 
to employ a pneumatic method. Brunei had used a " shield " on the Thames 
tunnel half a century before ; but all of the earlier tunnels constructed by 
this method were much smaller, and the difficulty and danger increase very 
rapidly as the size increases. 

In 1886 the " St. Clair Tunnel Company," virtually a creature of the 
Grand Trunk Railway Company, was organized, and in 1888 work was be- 
gun. After a false start, made by sinking shafts which were afterwards 
abandoned, open cuttings were commenced at each end, which were ex- 
tended to points 6000 feet apart, between which the tunnel was excavated 
and lined. The circular lining, having an outside diameter of 21 feet, is of 
cast iron, made in segments which are bolted together, having strips of wood 
three sixteenths of an inch thick placed in the joints. Liquid asphalt was 
freely used as a preservative and to make tight joints. The tunnel was exca- 
vated for nearly 2000 feet on each side as an ordinary open tunnel until 
the excavation was actually under the river ; then a diaphragm with air 
locks was built on each side, and that part of the tunnel lying under the 
river — 2290 feet in length — was constructed under air pressure. Several 
curious facts were developed during the construction. The material exca- 
vated outside of the shields was thrown inside, loaded on to cars, and 
hauled by mules to the diaphragm. It was found that horses could not 
work in compressed air. Mules could do so, but even they were sometimes 
affected by "the bends," a disease akin to paralysis, which frequently 
occurred among the men. The shields were forced forward by twenty- 
four hydraulic rams, each having a capacity of 125 tons, or 3000 tons for 
each shield. Usually a force of 1200 to 1500 tons was sufficient. Much 
gas was encountered, which, on account of its explosiveness, prevented the 
employment of blasting to break up the boulders which were frequently 
found. The advantages of electric lighting in compressed air work were 
exemplified in this tunnel. In August, 1890, about one year after the 
shields were placed on each side of the river, they met near the centre. 
The progress of each shield averaged nearly ten feet per day. Consider- 
ing the frequency with which the cost of great engineering work exceeds 
the original estimate, it is remarkable to note that in this case the actual 
cost ($2,700,000) was less than the original estimate, which was about 
$3,000,000. 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN THE ANIMAL WORLD 

By D. E. SALMON, M.D., 
Chief of Bureau of Animal Industry, U. S. Agricultural Department, 

I. OF ANIMAL DISEASES. 

The wars of Napoleon, which in the early years of the nineteenth century 
so seriously affected the governments and institutions of Europe, had an 
equally marked influence upon the development of the animal industry in 
the countries that were brought within the sphere of the military operations. 
This chapter of the history of that period appears to have been neglected 
by writers who have industriously delved into details of subjects of far less 
interest and importance. Enough has been chronicled by various historians, 
however, to show that in many cases those engaged in successful operations 
for improving the breeds of domesticated animals were forced to abandon the 
work to which they had devoted their lives, and for which long study and 
experience had specially fitted them, and to become units in the vast armies 
which were organized only to melt away in the bloody and disastrous cam- 
paigns of that epoch. But it was not the men alone that were taken. The 
best horses were seized for the use of the officers and the cavalry, for the 
artillery and the transportation trains. The sheep and swine were slaugh- 
tered for the subsistence of the armies, and the cattle were driven off for the 
same purpose. Neither the choicest flocks and herds nor the most magnifi- 
cent individuals produced by the breeder's art escaped. The fruits of many 
years of patient effort in selection and in guiding the forces of heredity were 
blotted out ; the animals left were few and inferior. To crown all these dis- 
asters, the most deadly forms of contagion were gathered from their hiding 
places with the animals that were seized, the plagues which these caused 
were propagated among the vast aggregation of beasts that were required for 
the service of the armies, and, finally, they were disseminated throughout all 
sections to which these armies penetrated. 

The agriculturists of Great Britain, thanks to the isolation due to the con- 
siderable expanse of water which separates their territory from the mainland, 
escaped not only the invasions of armed and destructive hosts, but also the 
pestilences which accompanied them. While, therefore, the farmers of the 
continent were struggling to save a few of their remaining animals from 
the ravages of glanders, rinderpest, foot-and-mouth disease, pleuro-pneumonia, 
and other plagues, those of the British Isles were perfecting the work of their 
ancestors without molestation. These circumstances, lost sight of by many, 
explain to a certain extent the apparently marvelous success of the British 
husbandmen in developing so many breeds of horses, cattle, sheep, and swine 
to the wonderful perfection which we see at the end of the nineteenth century. 
The favorable climate, together with the abundant and nutritious herbage, 
have undoubtedly been factors in the production of the British breeds, but 
the power and opportunity to select the best animals and retain these for 
breeding purposes must also have had great influence. 



362 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

The effect of contagious diseases in retarding the development of animal 
life may be appreciated from the estimate, carefully made, that in the closing 
years of the eighteenth century the cattle plague (rinderpest) alone destroyed 
in Europe two hundred million head of cattle, valued at seven billions of dol- 
lars. During the first half of the nineteenth century, cattle plague, pleuro- 
pneumonia, and foot-and-mouth disease were particularly disastrous to the 
animal industry of the Continent of Europe, and unquestionably, also, 
throughout Asia, which appears to have been the original habitat of these 
plagues. During the last third of this century the development of veteri- 
nary science, together with the enactment of sanitary legislation and the 
enforcement of intelligent measures of repression, have practically eradicated 
the cattle plague from the countries of Europe, and we have only to note, as 
important, its invasion of Great Britain in 1865, which led to the adoption of 
the present most excellent sanitary organization, and the extensive outbreak 
on the continent following the Eranco-Prussian war. During the last six 
years this plague has swept over large sections of the African continent, 
destroying nearly every bovine animal in the regions first invaded, and had 
it not been for the fortunate and timely discovery of a successful method of 
preventive inoculation, the cattle industry would have been absolutely anni- 
hilated. 

Pleuro-pneumonia, almost equally destructive with cattle plague and much 
more persistent, was widely disseminated over the continent of Europe dur- 
ing the seventeenth century, and reached England about 1840. Many years 
were lost in futile contentions over the subject of contagion, and it was not 
until the last twenty years that vigorous measures for its extermination were 
enforced. In the meantime the contagion had been carried to Australia and 
South Africa, where it has since remained domiciled, a constant source of 
loss to the cattle growers. The losses from this disease in Europe are now 
comparatively unimportant, but in the countries of Asia and Africa, and in 
Australia, it is still a great incubus. Foot-and-mouth disease, less fatal in 
its effects than the other maladies mentioned, appears to be more difficult to 
control, and, in the closing years of the century, we find it prevailing exten- 
sively over the principal countries of Continental Europe. 

The diseases which have most seriously affected the development of other 
species of animals are the glanders of horses, the variola of sheep (sheep-pox), 
and the three diseases of swine known in Europe as erysipelas, swine pest, 
and swine plague. These have been extremely prevalent and fatal in many 
parts of Europe. Glanders, swine pest, and swine plague have been brought 
to the American continent, and have been even more destructive here than in 
their ancient habitat. 

The diseases which at present are regarded as most serious attracted but 
little attention at the beginning of the century, or were unknown. Tuber- 
culosis has now become the great scourge of dairy cows and other highly 
bred cattle, ruining many of the best herds and threatening the health of the 
consumers of milk, if not also of beef. Texas fever, a disease of cattle first 
studied in the United States, but now known to be widely disseminated over 
the South American, African, and Australian continents, has during late 
years retarded operations for improving and increasing the stock of cattle, 
and has seriously restricted the marketing of animals from the infected dis- 
tricts. 




THOROUGHBRED. 



364 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

This brief summary relative to contagious diseases and their effects is all 
the attention that can be given in this article to conditions which through 
all historic times have been important, and, in many cases, have been supreme 
in their influence upon the tendencies and development of the animal popu- 
lation. As the twentieth century approaches, however, the influence of the 
animal plagues is on the wane, and with a few more years of active scientific 
investigations they will all be so thoroughly controlled that the disastrous 
visitations of the past can never be repeated, and they will not even be a 
hindrance or menace to the stock grower. 

II. INCREASE IN NUMBERS. 

As might be expected, there has been an increase in the numbers of the 
domesticated animals held in the various countries of the world, but this 
increase has been far from uniform, and cannot be measured either by the 
growth of the population or the degree of prosperity. Evidently the density 
of population, the development of manufactures, and the fertility of the soil 
have had much influence. 

In the United Kingdom there were 1,500,000 horses in 1800, and but 
2,000,000 in 1898. During this time the cattle had increased from 5,000,000 
to 11,000,000 ; the sheep from 25,000,000 to 31,000,000 ; and the swine from 
3,000,000 to 3,700,000. Thus, while the cattle doubled in numbers during 
the century, the horses increased but one third, the sheep one fourth, and the 
swine one fourth. As in the same period the population of the country was 
augmented from 16,200,000 to 40,000,000, or two and one half times, it is 
not difficult to see why England has become the world's greatest market for 
animals and animal products. 

It is important to note the increase in animals in a few of the principal 
countries of Europe. In France there were 1,800,000 horses at the begin- 
ning of the century, and there were 3,418,000 in 1896. The cattle increased 
from 6,000,000 to 13,334,000 ; the swine from 4,500,000 to 6,400,000 ; the 
goats from 800,000 to 1,500,000 ; while the sheep decreased from 30,000,000 
to 21,200,000. That is, in round numbers, the horses, cattle, and goats 
doubled, the swine increased nearly 50 per cent, but the sheep were dimin- 
ished one fourth. The population advanced from 27,350,000 to 38,500,000, 
or about 40 per cent. 

In Germany, from 1828 to 1892, the horses increased from 2,500,000 to 
3,836,000 ; the cattle from 9,770,000 to 17,500,000 ; the goats from 700,000 
to 3,000,000 ; the swine from 4,500,000 to 12,174,000 ; and the sheep de- 
creased from 17,300,000 to 13,600,000. The population increased during the 
same time from 29,700,000 to 49,500,000. 

In European Russia, from 1828 to 1888, the horses were increased from 
12,000,000 to 20,000,000 ; the cattle from 19,000,000 to 23,840,000 ; the sheep 
from 36,000,000 to 47,500,000 ; while the swine decreased from 15,800,000 to 
9,200,000. The population during this period increased from 45,000,000 to 
90,000,000. 

These are the countries in which there is most interest on account of their 
influence upon the markets of the world. In regard to Europe as a whole, 
owing to the lack of statistics, we can only estimate approximately as to the 
condition at the beginning of the century. Erom such data as are available 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN THE ANIMAL WORLD 



365 



it appears that there were about 20,600,000 horses, 61,800,000 cattle, 157,- 
500,000 sheep, and 36,600,000 swine. The population of Europe at that time 
is placed at 175,000,000. In the year 1900 there will be in Europe not far 
from 44,250,000 horses, 108,000,000 cattle, 180,575,000 sheep, and 56,800,000 
swine. The population will reach about 380,000,000. 

From these figures it would appear that, taking all of Europe, the hu- 
man population has increased more rapidly than have any of these species 
of domesticated animals. In other words, the population is 2.17 times what 
it was at the beginning of the century, while there are but 2.14 times as many 
horses, 1.75 times as many cattle, 1.55 times as many swine, and 1.14 times 
as many sheep. 

This growing deficiency in the stock of animals, coupled with an in- 
creasing consumption of meat per capita, has led to the importation of 
great numbers of animals and large quantities of meats and other animal 






WATERING THE COWS. 



products. The resulting trade has stimulated the production of animals in 
other parts of the world, particularly in the United States of America, 
Australia, and Argentina, in all of which there has been a marvelous de- 
velopment. 

There are no reliable statistics as to the number of animals in the 
United States at the beginning of the century. Some have estimated that 
there were only 300,000 horses, 600,000 cattle, and 600,000 sheep ; but the 
writer is of the opinion that there were from 500,000 to 1,000,000 horses, 
at least 3,000,000 head of cattle, and from 2,000.000 to 3,000.000 sheep. In 
1840, with a population of 17,063,000, there were 4,300,000 horses, 14,900,000 
cattle, 19,300,000 sheep, and 26,300,000 swine ; while in 1899 the number is 
placed at 15,800,000 horses and mules, 44,000,000 cattle, 39,000,000 sheep, and 
38,600,000 swine. 

In 1888 the horses of Canada numbered 1,100,000, the cattle 3,790,000, 
the sheep 2.600,000, and the swine 1,205,000. In the same year Mexico was 
credited with 2,000,000 horses, 3,000,000 cattle, 2,000,000 sheep, and 5,000,- 
000 goats. Taking the whole of North America, and making allowances 



366 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

for the increase since 1888 in Canada and Mexico, it may be fairly as- 
sumed that at the close of the century there will be about 19,000,000 
horses and mules, 55,000,000 cattle, 50,000,000 sheep, and 40,000,000 
swine. 

In South America, Argentina far outstrips all other countries in animal 
production. The horses, which in 1864 numbered .'5,875,000, had increased 
by 1895 to 4,447,000 ; the cattle increased in the same period from 10.215,- 
000 to 21,702,000; the sheep, from 23,110,000 to 74,380,000. The popula- 
tion in 1895 was only 3,964,000. In Uruguay there were, in 1895, 402,348 
horses, 5,248,000 cattle, and 14,333,000 sheep. In Paraguay there were, in 
1896, 246,000 horses and 2,100,000 cattle. The last returns from Chili 
(1882 ?) give 450,000 horses, 1,530,000 cattle, and 2,500,000 sheep. As to the 
condition in Brazil, we have no reliable statistics. 

The animal industries of Australasia have shown the most wonderful 
development during the century. In 1800, there were but 200 horses, 1040 
cattle, and 6100 sheep. In 1810, there were 1130 horses, 12,440 cattle, 25,900 
sheep, and 9540 swine. In 1890, there were 1,923,554 horses, 12,701,600 
cattle, 110,524,000 sheep, and 1,000,000 swine. 

In Asia there are large numbers of animals, but it is impossible to give 
statistics, except for British India, where, in 1895, there were 1,152,000 
horses, 49,000,000 cattle, and 17,200,000 sheep. 

Mr. Simonds endeavored to ascertain the number of each class of live stock 
in the world in 1890, and his conclusions may be accepted as approximately 
correct. He placed the total number of horses in all countries at 63,469,000, 
the asses and mules at 10,318,000, the cattle at 309,807,000, the sheep at 
588,935,000, the swine at 102,526,000, and the goats at 59,971,000. 

III. IMPROVEMENT OF BREEDS OF ANIMALS. 

The increased number of animals now held in various parts of the world 
does not give an adequate idea of the enlarged production of animal food 
products, as compared with one hundred years ago. During the last cen- 
tury there has been constant improvement in the various breeds of animals, 
with a view to perfect their form and shorten the time required for their 
growth. The breeder has learned how to stimulate development, and has 
fixed the quality of early maturity, through hereditary influence, until it is 
now transmitted with the same regularity as are other characteristics. 

Cattle are no longer fed until they are three or four years old before being 
sent to the butcher, and it has been found that they can be made to yield an 
equal quantity of beef of better quality at eighteen months to two years. 
It is the flesh of such young animals which has been much discussed under 
the title of " baby beef." Not only is this beef commended on account of its 
tenderness, its high nutritive value, and the more even distribution of fat 
through the muscular tissue, but because this shortening of the feeding 
period enables the farmer to produce a greatly increased quantity of human 
food from the same number of acres. That is, by reducing the age at which 
bullocks are marketed from three and one half years, as was formerly the 
rule, to twenty months, it is possible for the same farm to produce one third 
more animals in a given series of years. 

It may be admitted that not all of the stock of beef-producing animals, nor 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN THE ANIMAL WORLD 367 

even the greater part of it, has acquired this extreme degree of early maturity, 
but most of it has developed somewhat in this direction. The large-boned, 
gaunc, and long-horned cattle of Texas have nearly disappeared, and even in 
Mexico they are being rapidly replaced by others of better quality. The 
most important fact is that breeds exist which can be depended upon for 
the speedy transformation of the entire stock of cattle when the necessity 
arises. 

A similar hastening of maturing has been accomplished with the mutton 
breeds of sheep, with numerous varieties of swine, and to a considerable 
extent with poultry. 

The development of the dairy breeds of cattle has also been remarkable. 




A TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. (HEKKING.) 

It can be best appreciated by contrasting the half wild cows of our Western 
plains, which yield but two or three quarts of milk a day at their best, and 
none for half of the year, with the highly specialized types which produce 
twenty to thirty quarts daily when in full flow, and with which the milk 
secretion continues from year to year without interruption. 

The yield of butter has been increased equally with that of milk, and 
among the dairy breeds there are some which are specially valued because of 
their aptitude for bntter production. While the unimproved cow yields but 
one fourth to one half pound of butter a day, good specimens of the best breeds 
produce from one and one half to three pounds, and in numerous instances 
still greater quantities. 

In the production of wool there has also been a wonderful advance. The 
fibre has been increased in length, the fleece has been distributed more uni- 



368 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



formly over the surface of the body, and the quality of the fibre has been 
modified to conform to the requirements for manufacturing the infinite varie- 
ties of fabrics demanded by modern civilization. The fleece of to-day is pro- 
bably three times as heavy as that of a century ago. 

The improvement in the Merino type has been truly wonderful. Not only 
have the beautiful long and silky wools of the Eambouillet and Saxony breeds 
been developed by persistent selection, but the body of the Merino, formerly 
small and almost useless for its flesh, has been brought to a standard closely 
approaching that of the best mutton breeds. 

It is unfortunate that the changes of fashion have, during the latter part 
of the century, made the production of the extra fine wools less profitable 
than the coarse varieties, and that, as a consequence, many flocks which 




ART CRITICS. (GEI5LER.) 



had been bred to the very highest degree of perfection in this direction 
have gone to the shambles, and their peculiar points of excellence have been 
lost. 

With poultry, a vast number of varieties and strains have been developed, 
among which the most fastidious taste may readily find its ideal. Some of 
these have been perfected from the standpoint of utility, while with others the 
guiding principle has been purely aesthetic. Thus there are breeds which are 
characterized by their size, rapid growth, and excellence of flesh ; others which 
have been developed simply as egg-producing machines and which have even 
lost the maternal instinct for incubation ; and still others in which the beauty, 
the complication, and the perfection of the feathering constitute the principal 
claims to attention. 

The standard weights of the heavy varieties, such as Brahmas and Cochins, 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN THE ANIMAL WORLD 369 

is now 11 lbs. to 12 lbs. for cocks, and 8i lbs. to 9J lbs. for hens. In the United 
States, there has been developed a distinct American class of medium weight 
fowls, of which the Plymouth Rocks and Wyandottes are the most popular 
varieties. The cocks of these varieties weigh from 8J lbs. to 9^ lbs., and the 
hens 6| lbs. to 1\ lbs. They are valued both for their flesh and for egg pro- 
duction. The rapid multiplication of varieties by modern breeders is illus- 
trated by the Wyandottes, which came into existence during the last third of 
the century, and of which there are now five distinct varieties : the Silver, 
Golden, White, Buff, and Black. 

The breeder's art has been most successfully brought to bear in stimulating 
the function of egg production. Not many years ago, an average yield of 125 
to 150 eggs annually from the hens of even a small flock was considered all 




FRENCH COACH-HORSE 'GLADIATOR. 

that it was possible to obtain, but at present there are varieties which may be 
relied upon to produce more than 200 eggs annually. In some instances, it 
is alleged that an average of nearly 300 eggs a year has been reached in small 
flocks which have been given special care. 

It should not be forgotten that there has also been great improvement 
in the various breeds of horses. The heavy draught horses have been 
bred into a more compact form, with better legs and feet and less slug- 
gish disposition. The most noticeable advance has, however, been in the 
lighter grades of horses, and this has largely been accomplished by infusing 
the blood of the English thoroughbred. The French, by systematically breed- 
ing the heavy mares of the country to thoroughbred stallions with careful 
selection of the offspring, produced an extremely valuable breed of carriage- 
horses, known there as the demi-sang, and which have been imported into the 
United States as French coach-horses. These animals, beautiful in form 
and action, have been brought to a high degree of perfection, and the breed 
is so well established that its good qualities are reliably transmitted from 
generation to generation. 

24 



370 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

There are also German coach-horses and similar breeds in several other 
countries, which have been established by following the same general plan 
as that adopted by the French. These breeds are peculiarly the product of 
the nineteenth century, and are in their most valuable condition as the 
century closes. 

The American trotting horse has without doubt been one of the most 
remarkable triumphs of the breeder's art which the century has seen. Ori- 
ginating in considerable obscurity, but undoubtedly owing much of its 
excellence to the thoroughbred, the trotter was born with the century, and 
has continually increased its speed until the very end. It now gives pro- 
mise of continuing its evolution through at least a considerable part of the 
twentieth century. In the decade from 1800 to 1810, the best recorded 
speed at this gait was 2:59 ; from 1810 to 1820, the time was lowered to 
2:48£; from 1830 to 1840, it reached 2:3U ; from 1840 to 1850, the limit was 
2:28 ; from 1850 to 1860, 2:19£ ; from 1860 to 1870, 2:17| ; from 1870 to 
1880, 2:12| ; from 1880 to 1890, 2:08| ; and from 1890 to 1898, 2:03f. 

This extraordinary and constantly progressing increase in speed during 
the century has excited the interest and admiration of the world. It is, 
however, quite generally admitted that too much attention has been given 
to speed and not enough to disposition, size, conformation, and sound- 
ness, to bring the animals to their highest value for other than racing 
purposes. 

Owing to the relatively small extent of agricultural territory and the 
great development of manufactures, Great Britain has become the best 
market in the world for animals and animal products. The purchases of 
cattle, sheep, beef, and mutton have been particularly large. Considering, 
first, the importations of cattle, it is found that during the five years from 
1861 to 1865 inclusive, the average number was 174,177 ; from 1866 to 
1870, the average was 194,947; from 1871 to 1875, 215,990; from 1876 
to 1880, 272,745; from 1881 to 1885, 387,282; from 1886 to 1890, 438,098 ; 
from 1891 to 1895, 448,139 ; and for the two years 1896 and 1897, 590,4: 57. 

This unparalleled growth in the consumption of foreign cattle has had a 
marked influence in encouraging the development of the cattle industry of 
some other parts of the world, particularly in the United States, Canada, and 
Argentina. The export trade of the United States has developed even more 
rapidly than the import trade of Great Britain. In 1871 this traffic was in 
its infancy, and but 20,530 head of cattle were exported, valued at $400,000. 
By 1879 the number had increased to 136,720, valued at $8,300,000. Then 
came the British restrictions prohibiting American cattle from leaving the 
docks where landed, and requiring their slaughter on these docks within ten 
days from their arrival. These regulations were a rude shock to the Ameri- 
can cattle grower, and led to measures here for the control and eradication of 
the cattle diseases which were cited by the English authorities as the cause 
of their unfavorable action. 

Although the pleuro-pneumonia, about which most apprehension was ex- 
pressed, has long since been extirpated, and an elaborate inspection service 
has been organized to prevent any affected animals from leaving our shores, 
the restrictions have been continued. Fortunately, the trade was only tem- 
porarily embarrassed, and has continued its growth notwithstanding this 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN THE ANIMAL WORLD 371 

obstruction. In 1889 these exports first exceeded 200,000, and the following 
year reached 394,836. Since that time the number has fluctuated between 
287,000 and 392,000, until 1898, when it reached the enormous aggregate of 
439,255, valued at $37,800,000. Not quite all of these cattle have gone 
to Great Britain, but that has been the destination of by far the greater 
part. 

The exports of sheep have varied widely, according to the fluctuations of 
the markets at home and abroad. From 1870 to 1873 the number varied 
from 39,000 to 66,000 ; from 1874 to 1889, it varied from 110,000 to 337,000. 




PACING HORSE "STAR POINTER." TIME, 1 M. 59j S. 



In 1890 the exports were but 67,500; in 1891, 60,900 ; in 1892, 46,900 ; and in 
1893, 37,200. Beginning with 1894, the exports of sheep again increased, 
reaching in that year 132,000 ; in 1895 they were 405,000 ; and in 1896, 491,000. 
In 1897 there was a decrease to 244,000, and in 1898 a further decrease to 
200,000, valued at $1,213,000. 

The export trade in horses and mules was inconsiderable, varying from 
2000 to 8000 a year until 1895, when 14.000 horses and 4800 mules were 
shipped to foreign ports. This trade increased in 1896 to 25,126 horses and 
6534 mules, together valued at about $4,000,000. In 1897 a further increase 
was made to 39,532 horses and 7753 mules, the value being $5,400,000. 
And, finally, in 1898 there were exported the largest number ever sent 



372 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

from this country, amounting to 51,150 horses and 6996 mules, valued at 
$6,691,000. 

Swine are not exported in very large numbers, as they do not stand ship- 
ping well. The largest number sent abroad was 158,581, in 1874, the value 
of which was $1,625,837. In 1897 and 1898 there were only 16,800 exported 
each year. Very few of these cross the ocean. 

This resume of the development of the international traffic in live animals 
and the status of the animal industry would not be complete without some 
reference to the markets for animal products. The quantity of foreign meat 
consumed in Great Britain is most remarkable. The imports of fresh beef, 
which from 1861 to 1865 averaged but 15,772 cwts., had increased in the years 
1891 to 1895 to an average of 2,020,668 cwts., and in 1897 exceeded 3,000,000 
cwts. The proportion of this supplied by the United States is indicated by 
the returns for 1896, giving a total of 2,659,700 cwts. of imported beef, of 
which this country furnished 2,074,644 cwts. 

Great Britain also imported 3,193.276 cwts. of fresh mutton in 1897, more 
than nine tenths of it being frozen carcasses from Argentina and Australasia. 
Of fresh and salted pork, the United States supplied 4,183,800 cwts. out of 
a total of 6,563,688 cwts. The principal, other animal products imported 
by that country are, 1,750,000 cwts. of lard, 276,458 cwts. of rabbits, and 
1^683,810,000 eggs. 

The continent of Europe consumes considerable quantities of lard and 
salted pork, which are largely furnished by the United States, notwithstand- 
ing the unfavorable attitude of the governments towards such traffic and the 
existence of many annoying and injurious regulations. Fresh meats from 
America have been practically excluded. 

The British markets for dairy products and wool have also had considerable 
influence upon the prosperity of the animal industries in various parts of the 
world. The rapidly increasing demand for dairy products is worthy of atten- 
tion. In 1877 there were imported into the United Kingdom 1.637,403 cwts. 
of butter and margarine. In 1897 the imports had been raised to 3,217,801 
cwts. of butter and 936,543 cwts. of margarine, or a total of 4,154,344 cwts., 
being two and one half times the quantity imported in 1877. 

The quantity of cheese imported in 1877 was 1,653,920 cwts., and had in- 
creased to 2,603,608 cwts. in 1897. 

The country supplying the largest quantity of butter in 1896 was Denmark, 
with France second, Sweden third, Holland fourth, and Australasia fifth. 
Nearly all of the margarine came from Holland. The largest quantity of 
cheese came from Canada, the United States being second, with less than 
half the quantity furnished by her neighbor to the north, and Holland 
third. 

The quantity of wool imported by the United Kingdom, France, Germany, 
Austria, Belgium, United States, and other consuming countries, increased 
from 200,000" tons, in the decade 1821-1830, to 3,300,000 tons in 1871-1880. 
This wool came principally from Australia, River Plate, South Africa, Russia, 
and Spain. 

The excess of imports of wool into the United Kingdom over the exports 
were, in 1892, 312,217,111 lbs., and in 1896, 383,845,450 lbs. Of the total 
quantity imported by the United Kingdom in 1896, the United States supplied 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN THE ANIMAL WORLD 373 

but 4,500,000 lbs., while Australasia furnished 477,600,000 lbs. ; Cape of Good 
Hope, 70,000,000 lbs. ; British East Indies, 43,000,000 lbs. ; Natal, 21,000,000 
lbs. ; France, 20,000,000 lbs. ; Turkey, 16,500,0001bs. ; and Belgium, 11,400,000 
lbs. 

The tendency of the last decade of the nineteenth century has been to 
displace horses and adopt mechanical motors. The great increase of steam 
railroads, cable cars, electric cars, bicycles, and automobile vehicles has so 
reduced the demand for these animals that their value has decreased over 
fifty per cent. While there is still a good market for horses suitable for 
carriage use, for drays, for army service, and for agricultural purposes, buyers 







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AUTOMOBILE OR HORSELESS CARRIAGE. 

are becoming more critical and the future is uncertain. As it is five or 
six years after a breeding establishment is started before any of the horses 
produced can be placed upon the market, the effect of this uncertainty is to 
discourage would-be horse breeders and influence them toward other enter- 
prises. 

The end of the century also finds the sheep industry in a depressed condi- 
tion on account of over-production. The vast quantities of wool grown in 
Australasia and South Africa have clogged the markets to such an extent 
that Australian wool in the London market has dropped from 15d. per pound 
in 1877 to 8£d. in 1897, and South African wool from 15f d. to 7jd. during 
the same period. Other wools have fallen in about the same proportion. Al- 
though sheep are raised for the production of mutton as well as wool, and the 



374 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

tendency in the United States has been towards the breeding of mutton sheep, 
the value of these animals has been reduced about one half. 

There have been periods of depression with the cattle and swine industries, 
but prices have been well sustained. The European markets are yearly re- 
quiring larger supplies, and the stock of beef-producing cattle in the United 
States, in proportion to the population, is rapidly diminishing. The decreased 
number is in a slight degree counterbalanced by earlier maturity ; but when 
due allowance is made for this, it is plain that the United States has not the 
surplus of beef which it boasted a few years ago. At the same time, our meat 
trade in the markets of the world is threatened with more serious competition 
from South America, Australasia, and even Russia. 

The century closes in a period of wonderful achievements in the extension 
of transportation facilities and in the education of the masses in all parts of 
the world. The producer in South America, Africa, and Australasia keeps 
abreast with the most enlightened stock-growers of Europe and America in his 
knowledge of the best breeds, the most economical methods of feeding, and 
the most desirable handling of his products. There is no animal product so 
perishable but that it can now be sent from the antipodes to London in good 
condition. All of this has brought surprising changes in the traffic between 
different countries and in the modification of industries to meet new condi- 
tions. The producers of the most distant parts of the world are aggressively 
entering our nearest markets. Competition is becoming more intense, and 
commercial rivalry is assuming more the appearance of warfare than hereto- 
fore. The nations of the world are actively engaged in assisting their people 
in this struggle. They diffuse information as to the best and most econom- 
ical methods of production, they seek out new markets, they subsidize trans- 
portation lines, they assist in the introduction of new kinds of goods, they 
sustain their subjects in the most aggressive practices, they exclude the pro- 
ducts of competing countries by tariffs and hostile sentiment, by discrimina- 
tions, by unpacking, delaying, or damaging goods, under the pretext of 
inspection, and by burdensome charges and regulations. Some countries 
have gone so far as to absolutely prohibit competing products for compre- 
hensive but indefinite sanitary reasons. 

The outcome of this commercial warfare cannot be foreseen. The struggle 
has been, and is, fiercest over the international traffic in animals and animal 
products. The greatest forces of the world are to-day contending as to what 
the future shall be. The United States has only recently begun to realize 
that it also must take part in this commercial struggle, if it would retain mar- 
kets for its products and secure prosperity for its people. Its trade has been 
unjustly prohibited and discriminated against, its merchants have been un- 
fairly treated and insulted, and its protests have been treated with ill-disguised 
contempt. Notwithstanding all these efforts at repression. American trade 
has gone on increasing at an amazing rate, the forbearance of the government 
having been far overbalanced by the energy of the people. Having grown to 
be one of the greatest powers of the world, with magnificent resources yet 
undeveloped, the United States will no doubt maintain its position and con- 
tinue to supply the markets of the world with the best animals, the best 
meats, and probably with the- best dairy products. 



LEADING WARS OF THE CENTURY 

By MAJOR GENERAL JOSEPH WHEELER, U. S. ARMY. 

I. WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The progress of the nineteenth century, in everything that pertains to 
civilization, arts, and sciences, has been greater than the total progress in 
any decade of centuries in the history of the world, and this is equally true 
in regard to the art and science of war; for the expenditure of blood and 
treasure in the prosecution of the wars and the fighting of the battles of this 
century far exceeds that of any other like period. 

The first year of the nineteenth century dawned upon the United States at 
peace with the world. In September, 1800, Napoleon, finding that he could 
not coerce the young nation into " an entangling alliance," and fearing lest 
the United States should join England in opposing him, found it his best 
policy to conclude a peace. The brilliant achievements of the newly organ- 
ized navy, under Commodore Truxton, not only illuminated these early pages 
of our history, but established a prestige never yet forfeited ; for the history 
of this branch of our service is unparalleled from the first effort, during the 
Revolution, of Esek Hopkins, to that of George Dewey at Manila, and Samp- 
son and Schley at Santiago. 

War with Barbary States. — In 1803 the United States determined to 
end the piracy of the Barbary States, and an expedition under Commodore 
Preble was sent to the Mediterranean. The Philadelphia, while pursuing a 
pirate, was grounded off the coast of Tripoli, and captured by the Tripolitans, 
who made slaves of the crew and prisoners of the officers. In February, 1804, 
Captain Decatur, with seventy-six men from his ship, the Intrepid, boarded 
the Philadelphia, killed or drove off the Moors, fired the vessel, and returned 
without the loss of a man, although fiercely attacked by the shore batteries. 
In July, Commodore Preble, with his squadron, laid siege to Tripoli, but 
his bombardment was ineffective. General Eaton, consul to Tunis, induced 
Hamet, the brother of Yusef, who had usurped the sovereignty of Tripoli, to 
furnish him a troop of Arab cavalry and a company of Greeks. With these, 
and a band of Tripolitan rebels and a force of American sailors, he crossed 
the Barcan Desert, stormed and captured Derne, an eastern seaport of Yusef. 
The latter was glad to make peace, and a treaty was signed June 4, 1805. 

Indian Wars. — From 1809 to 1811 fighting with the Indians in the 
South and Northwest was constant. General Harrison and the celebrated 
Indian chief Tecumseh were the principal actors. 

War of 1812. — The contest between England and France for the domin- 
ion of the seas was the cause of the war of 1812. England declared the 
German and French coast to be in a state of blockade. Napoleon, in 1806, 
made the same declaration regarding British ports. In 1807, England pro- 
hibited trade with the coast of France. American commerce was injured and 
almost destroyed by the combined action of the two powers. Four years 



376 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

were consumed in negotiations, with constant aggressions on the part of 
England, and on June 19, 1812, Congress declared war. The great error of 
the campaign was the attempted invasion of Canada. Had the war been 
made entirely upon the seas, an early peace might have ensued. 

The war began on the Lakes, and, repulsed in the effort to make a stand 
on the Canada shore, and falling back, Hull surrendered Detroit, August 5. 
Again, at Queenstown, October 13, the Americans were defeated with the loss 




COMMODORE STEPHEN DECATUR. 

of a thousand men. Altogether the first year of the war was a disastrous one 
on land. 

At sea, the navy, consisting of not more than a half-dozen frigates, with 
its magnificently disciplined officers, had been eminently successful. On 
August 13, the Essex, Captain Porter, captured the British sloop Alert ; on 
August 19, Captain Hull, commanding the Constitution, destroyed the Guer- 
riere off the Gulf of St. Lawrence ; October 18, the Wasp, Captain Jones, 
captured the Frolic, but later in the day both the Frolic and the Wasp fell 
into the hands of the British ship Poictiers. October 25, Captain Decatur, 
with the frigate United States, captured the Macedonian off the Azores ; on 
December 29, after a desperate fight in the South Atlantic, Captain Bain- 
bridge, commanding the Constitution, defeated the British ship Java. 



LEADING WARS OF THE CENTURY 



377 



The campaign of 1813 opened on the Canadian frontier with the several 
divisions in command of Generals Harrison, Dearborn, and Hampton. On 
June 8, General Winchester, with eight hundred Kentuckians, drove the 
British and Indians, under Proctor, from Frenchtown, on the River Raisin, 
but returning with a force of fifteen hundred, they obliged Winchester to 
surrender, which he only consented to do under Proctor's promise to protect 
the Americans from the Indians ; which promise Proctor treacherously dis- 
regarded, and marched away, leaving the sick and wounded Kentuckians to 
be massacred. Henceforth the Kentucky war cry was, " Remember the 
River Raisin," and many were the British and Indians who had cause to 
dread that slogan. May 5, General Harrison, reinforced by General Green 
Clay and his Kentucky troops, repulsed the British and their dusky allies 
under Tecumseh. July 21, they returned four thousand strong, but were 
again repulsed. 

The Americans, by wonderful exertion and hard work, built and equipped, 




COMMODORE PERKY AT BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE. 



at Erie, a squadron of nine ships with fifty -five guns, the command of which 
was given to Commodore Perry. September 10, Perry won his grand victory 
on Lake Erie, over the English squadron of six ships and sixty-three guns. 
This was the turning point of the war, and Perry's name goes down to pos- 
terity with the immortal names that never die. On October 5, General 
Harrison, conveyed by Perry's ships, landed his forces in Canada and com- 
pletely destroyed Proctor's army, Tecumseh being among the slain. So 
ended the war in the Northwest. 

In the meantime, General Dearborn was fighting with varying success in 



378 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

Upper Canada. Jackson, in the South, was avenging the Fort Mimms mas- 
sacre, finally crushing the Creeks early in the next year. The British, under 
the odious Admiral Cochrane, plundered and ravaged and burned everything 
in reach, from Lewistown to the Carolina coast, seizing the negroes and sell- 
ing them in the West Indies. During this year the American navy continued 
to be successful, meeting few losses, though the fighting was even more 
desperate. 

July 5, 1814, the Americans defeated the British at Chippewa; and on the 
25th was fought the battle of Lundy's Lane, where Generals Brown and 
Scott were wounded. In this desperate battle, eight hundred men were lost 
on either side ; and though the battle was undecisive, it had the effect of a 
victory for the Americans. August 14, five thousand troops, under General 
Ross, were landed on the Patuxent, and, defeating General Winder, who 
made a stand with a handful of men near Bladensburg, proceeded to the city 
of Washington. After burning the capitol and White House, and other 
buildings, they hastily withdrew. The attempt to take Baltimore proved 
abortive, and on September 14 the British reembarked. It was at this time 
that Key wrote the " Star Spangled Banner." August 15, the enemy were 
repulsed at Fort Erie with the loss of one thousand men, and a month later 
were finally driven back. The whole British squadron on Lake Champlain 
surrendered to Commodore MacDonough after a terrific fight for several 
hours, on September 17, and on the same day the British army of twelve 
thousand was forced to retreat from Plattsburg by General Macomb's force 
of forty -five hundred. 

In Florida the Spaniards had allowed, if not encouraged, the English to 
use their territory to fit out expeditions against the United States. Jackson, 
with two thousand men, took possession of Pensacola on the 7th of Novem- 
ber, driving out the British. 

December the 28th the British opened fire on New Orleans ; again, on 
January 1, 1815 ; and on January 8 Packenham, with twelve thousand men, 
made his supreme effort. Jackson's force was now about six thousand. The 
British were driven to their ships after losing two thousand killed and 
wounded, their general being among the slain. The American loss was seven 
killed and six wounded. The war was kept up on the ocean until March, 
the last capture being that of the British brig Penguin by the American 
sloop-of-war Hornet, in the South Atlantic. 

The treaty of Ghent had been signed on the 24th of September, 1814, and 
the news of the glorious victory at New Orleans reached Washington simul- 
taneously with that of the signing of the treaty. The war had been so dis- 
tasteful to the people of New England that Massachusetts and Connecticut 
had passed laws directly antagonistic to those of the United States, and 
hostilities between the Federal and State governments Avere feared, which, 
perhaps, were only averted by the ending of the war. The issues leading to 
the war of 1812 were left unsettled by the treaty, but England never again 
attempted to interfere with American shipping. 

Second War with Barbary States. — Immediately on the close of the 
war of 1812, the Algerians, supposing that the American navy was badly 
crippled, began again their depredations on American commerce. Commo- 
dore Decatur was sent to the Mediterranean with a squadron, and once more 



LEADING WARS OF THE CENTURY 



379 



gave them an American drubbing. June 17, 1815, be destroyed two Algerine 
vessels ; June 28, in front of the city of Algiers, be demanded the release of 
all American prisoners, indemnification for all property destroyed, and a 
relinquishment of all claims for tribute from the United States. The Dey 
quickly assented to the terms, and signed a treaty of peace. Tunis, Tripoli, 
and Morocco were likewise brought to terms, the United States thus taking 
the lead of all the other powers in its determination to break up the piracy 
of the Barbary States. 

Mexican War. — The Republic of Texas became, by its own request and 
by Act of Congress, one of the United States July 4, 1845. Mexico prepared 
for war ; the United States took measures to protect the new State. March 







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SCHOOLSHIF SAKATOGA. 



8, 1846, General Zachary Taylor marched with fifteen hundred men to a point 
on the Rio Grande opposite Matamoras, where he erected Fort Brown. 

To the secretary of war, William L. Marcy, and to General Winfield Scott 
was due the plan of campaign, the battles of which, like instantaneous flashes 
of victory from the beginning of the war until its close, illumine the pages of 
American history. Then, as now, Congress was slow to respond to the needs 
of the military branch of the government. 

April 24, 1846, hostilities began. General Taylor advanced into Mexico 
and, May 8, won the brilliant victory of Palo Alto, and again, the next day, 
the battle of Besaca de la Palma. Taylor's force was less than one third 
the number of the enemy, whose loss was one thousand. These two battles 
crushed the flower of Santa Anna's army. Taylor returned to the relief of 
Fort Brown, where the brave garrison had sustained a cannonade for 168 
hours. September 24, Monterey and its garrison of nine thousand men were 
taken by General Taylor with six thousand. 



380 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

February 23, 1847, Taylor gained the glorious victory of Buena Vista, in 
which the Mexican loss was 2000, the American, 714. At times the Mexicans 
were within a few yards of Bragg's guns. " A little more grape, Captain 
Bragg," was Taylor's celebrated order, the execution of which decided the 
day. The American loss was severe in officers. Taylor's force, depleted by 
more than two thirds, which had been sent to reinforce General Scott, was 
barely forty-five hundred ; the Mexican troops numbered twenty thousand. 
Captain Fremont, assisted by Commodores Sloat and Stockton, had subju- 
gated California ; General Kearney and Colonel Doniphan, Northern Mexico. 
Doniphan defeated the Mexicans at Bracito, December 25. 1846, and at Sacra- 
mento, February 8, 1847, and took possession of Chihuahua, a city of 
forty thousand inhabitants, and marched to join General Wool at Saltillo, 
March 22. 

Early in January, 1847, General Scott reached the mouth of the Rio Grande, 
where he awaited the eight thousand troops sent by General Taylor. This 
raised his force to twelve thousand. These were landed at Sacrificios. The 
Americans debarked just below Vera Cruz between sunset and ten o'clock on 
the night of March 8 without a single accident. With wonderful skill the 
investiture of Vera Cruz and the castle of St. John de Ulloa was completed. 
On March 22 the Governor of Vera Cruz was summoned to surrender. Day 
and night the mortar batteries played upon the city, the fleet ably assisting ; 
and on the 29th the stars and stripes floated above the walls of city and for- 
tress. The Americans lost but two officers and a few soldiers. April 18, the 
magnificent victory at Cerro Gordo, where three thousand Mexicans were 
captured, was won ; April 19, Jalapa was taken ; April 22, Pecote, the strong- 
est of Mexican forts, was captured ; and May 15, Puebla surrendered to 
General Worth. Ten thousand prisoners, seven hundred cannon, ten thou- 
sand stands of arms, and thirty thousand shot and shells were captured 
within two months. When the army entered Puebla it numbered but forty- 
five hundred. 

Reinforcements reaching him, Scott set out from Puebla to the valley of 
Mexico on August 7. August 20, the heights of Contreras were assailed and 
taken, and the battle of Churubusco — with nine thousand Americans against 
thirty thousand Mexicans — was fought and won. September 8, Molino del 
Rey was taken ; September 13, the heights of Chapultepec. The Mexicans 
fled from the capital, and the victorious American army marched in and took 
possession of the city, September 14, 1847. Here Scott and his noble war- 
riors rested until the treaty was concluded at Guadalupe Hidalgo, February 
2, 1848, and peace was proclaimed, July 4, by President Polk. Guadalupe 
Hidalgo, New Mexico, and California were ceded to the United States, 
$15,000,000 paid to Mexico, and the debts due from Mexico to American citi- 
zens were assumed by the United States. 

The Civil War. — It is not here the place to rehearse or to discuss the 
causes which led to America's Civil War, a war perhaps the most stupendous 
recorded in history. Looking backward, after the bloody foot-prints have 
been well nigh obliterated by the growth of a generation, we can see that the 
trend of human progress, the political problems confronting the federated 
States, in the solution of which were evolved elements of discord, the inher- 
ited antagonism between the Puritans of the North and the Cavaliers of the 




ROBERT E. LEE AT CHAPUI/TEPEC. 



382 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

South, all combined to make the conflict inevitable. For more than a decade 
of years grievances had been growing and rumblings were heard, like the im- 
prisoned fires beneath the surface of the earth, until the election of Abraham 
Lincoln as President, pledged to a policy believed to be inimical to the South, 
caused the outburst of the volcano, whose fierce fires and molten lava for four 
years spread desolation over the land. 

Time and milder judgment have very nearly smoothed away the wrinkles 
of discord, and the close of the century finds the nation a reunited people, 
whose new compact is written in the life-blood of her sons on the battlefields 
of the recent war with Spain. 

December 20, 1860, South Carolina ; January 9, 1861, Mississippi ; January 
10, Florida; January 11, Alabama; January 18, Georgia ; January 23, Louis- 
iana, and February 1, Texas, one by one asserted their supposed right to 
withdraw from the federal compact, and enacted ordinances of secession in 
their several state conventions. Each State, as it took action, claimed and 
possessed itself of all government property, forts, guns, ammunition, within 
its borders, and armed its militia for garrison duty. A convention of dele- 
gates from the seceded States, held February 4, 1861, at Montgomery, Ala- 
bama, organized a new federation, to be known as the Confederate States of 
America, chose Jefferson Davis President and Alexander Stephens Vice-Pres- 
ident, and set the whole machinery of a provisional government in working 
order. July 20, Richmond became the capital of the Southern Confederacy. 
Virginia seceded April 17 ; Arkansas, May 6 ; North Carolina, May 20, and 
Tennessee, June 8. Kentucky declared neutrality. 

Lincoln, upon assuming the executive chair, March 4, 1861, found the 
treasury depleted, the army of only sixteen thousand men scattered in the 
West, and many of its best officers already with the Confederacy. The navy 
had been sadly neglected by Congress, partly because this branch of the 
service had been steadily antagonized by the. West, so that at the beginning 
of the war, both as to vessels and armament, it was by no means in a condi- 
tion for active service. As in the army, some of its most valuable officers 
had espoused the cause of their native States, and the South Atlantic and 
Gulf ports, being in possession of the new federation, left the United States 
vessels no place of refuge. With unlimited means at command, the Union 
navy increased the number of its vessels to 588 — To of them ironclads — 
with 4443 guns and 30,000 men, before the end of 1862. Torpedoes and 
steel rams were first used during this war, and monitors, just invented, were 
used by the United States. With a nucleus of 10 vessels, around which to 
build its navy, the Confederacy had, by November, raised the number to 34. 
Until the blockade became effective. " cotton was king ; " for, in October, 
1861, the Nashville, running out with a heavy consignment, brought back 
into Charleston in exchange a cargo worth ,$3,000,000. Vessel after vessel 
was bought from English shipbuilders, among them the celebrated Alabama, 
which, in the fourteen months of her service, captured sixty-nine prizes, 
and destroyed ten million dollars' worth of merchandise. The armored ram 
Stonewall was bought in France. 

April 12, 1861, Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbor, was forced to surrender 
to the Confederates, and the first shot at the old flag ushered in the long, 
bitter struggle. 



LEADING WARS OF THE CENTURY 



383 



Troops were called for by Lincoln. Lieutenant-General Scott, the veteran 
hero of Mexico, was in command of the army. In three months, three hun- 
dred thousand men were in the held. One hundred thousand had swarmed 
to the Confederate ranks. General McClellan was sent to the front and, 
after the resignation of Scott in the latter part of the year, was made com- 
mander of the army. 

July 21, the battle of Bull Run was fought. The Union troops were dis- 
astrously routed and retreated in confusion to Washington. The army did 
little more during this year. 

April 21, after setting fire to and destroying the Navy Yard and ships, 




CASTLE WILLIAM. MILITARY PRISON, GOVERNOR S ISLAND, NEW YORK HARBOR. 



Norfolk was evacuated by the Union forces. The frigate Merrimac, which 
had been sunk, was raised by the Confederates, plated with iron, renamed 
« Virginia," and became the scourge of the shipping off the Virginia coast. 

The navy, as is usual, and because of its very organization, got in its effec- 
tive work much earlier than did the army, and the seizure of the forts and 
ports on the coast of the seceded States began at once. Fort Hatteras was 
taken August 29 ; Port Royal, in South Carolina, November 7. November 7 
a naval officer, by overhauling an English mail steamer and taking off Messrs. 
Mason and Slidell, who had been appointed commissioners of the Confederate 
States to France and England, very nearly caused a complication with the 
latter power. Mr. Seward's diplomacy settled the incident amicably, and the 
commissioners were allowed to proceed upon their mission, which, however. 



384 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

proved futile. By the close of the year, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri, 
at first doubtful, were securely in the Union, though many of their citizens 
were in the Southern army. 

1862. — February 6, General Grant, commanding the army of the Tennes- 
see, with the assistance of Commodore Foote and his gunboats, captured Fort 
Henry, on the Tennessee River, and, on the 16th, Fort Donelson on the 
Cumberland. The Federal forces had reached the number of four hundred 
and fifty thousand, of which McClellan had two hundred thousand. 

May 23, at Front Royal, and May 25, at Winchester, " Stonewall " Jackson 
defeated the Union troops and forced them across the Potomac. Banks, 
Fremont, and McDowell, concentrating their forces, bore down on Jackson, 
who slipped through their lines, and, on June 9, defeated Shields at Fort 
Republic. 

The cry of the Northern press was, " On to Richmond," and McClellan 
endeavored to obey the command. He had arrived not far from the city, 
between the York and James rivers, when he was defeated in the bloody 
battle of Seven Pines, May 31 and June 1. The Confederate General John- 
ston was wounded, and General Lee was assigned to the command of the 
army of Northern Virginia, which he retained until the end. 

The Seven Days' battles, from June 25 to July 1, were fought at fear- 
ful cost to the Confederates ; nevertheless, " it was a glorious victory," and 
the siege of Richmond was raised. Lee advanced toward Washington, met 
the armies of Banks and Pope, and defeated them in the second battle of 
Bull Run, August 29 and 30, and at Chantilly, September 1 and 2, forcing 
Pope's army to retreat to Washington. The clamor in the South had been, 
" On to Washington." Lee crossed the Potomac at Harper's Ferry and took 
twelve thousand prisoners. McClellan, who had been recalled, met the 
Confederates at Sharpsburg (Antietam), September 17, and fought a battle 
with undecisive results. Each side lost about ten thousand men, and Lee 
returned. 

The Union army under Burnside, who had superseded McClellan, met a 
fearful repulse at Fredericksburg, December 13, with a loss of fourteen thou- 
sand. The Confederate loss was five thousand. 

December 31, January 1 and 2, was fought the terrible battle of Murfrees- 
boro, Tennessee, where Bragg's force was 35,000, and his loss in killed, 
wounded, and missing, 10,466. Rosecrans's force was 43,400, and his loss 
12,595. 

March 8, the Virginia attacked the Union fleet at Fortress Monroe and 
destroyed the Cumberland and the Congress. The next day, the Monitor 
attacked the Virginia, and, after five hours' fighting, succeeded in disabling 
her so that she returned to Norfolk. The Virginia was destroyed by the 
Confederates before evacuating Norfolk, May 10. 

Admiral Farragut, with a fleet of 45 vessels, entered the Mississippi and 
bombarded the forts of St. Philip and Jackson. Despising the fear of mines 
and torpedoes, he continued on his course, defeating the Confederate fleet, 
and, together with General Butler, entered New Orleans April 25. During 
this year the navy, with the assistance of land forces, had retaken all impor- 
tant ports on the Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia coasts, seriously 
interfering with the blockade running, upon which the Confederacy depended 



LEADING WARS OF THE CENTURY 



385 



for its foreign supplies. The year 1862 closed with no advantage having 
been gained on either side. 

1863. — On January 1, Lincoln issued the threatened Emancipation Pro- 
clamation. This destroyed the last hope of the Confederacy for recognition 
by England. No event of importance occurred before the middle of spring, 
when Hooker, who had relieved Burnside, made another advance upon Rich- 




GENEUALS ROBERT E. LEE AND STONEWALL, JACKSON. 



mond, and was routed by Lee and Jackson at Chancellorsville, May 2, and 
on the 5th was forced across the Rapidan with a loss of seventeen thousand. 
The Confederate loss was less than five thousand. In Jackson's death the 
Confederacy received a blow, the consequences of which may never be esti- 
mated. 

Lee's arm}*- again crossed the Potomac for an invasion of the North. The 
Union forces, under Meade, marched in an almost parallel line with Lee's 
25 



386 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

through Maryland into Pennsylvania. They met and fought at Gettysburg, 
July 1, 2, and 3, one of the decisive battles of the world's history. Lee was 
forced to again retire beyond the river. The Union could well afford the 
loss of twenty-three thousand men, but Lee's loss of twenty thousand of the 
choice troops of his army was irreparable. 

In the meantime, Grant had been sent to open the Mississippi, and after a 
six weeks' siege, on July 4, Vicksburg, with nearly thirty thousand prisoners 
and vast quantities of stores, fell into his hands. These two almost sim- 
ultaneous victories greatly encouraged the North, and formed the turning 
point in the history of the war. July 9, Banks's victory at Port Hudson 
accomplished the desired possession of the Mississippi River. 

Bragg, who had been sorely pressed by Rosecrans, made a stand at Chicka- 
mauga, defeating the Union General Rosecrans, September 19 and 20, and 
forcing him to retreat to Chattanooga, where he was besieged by Bragg. 
Grant, with Sherman, coming to his aid, the battles of Lookout Mountain 
and Missionary Ridge were fought, November 23 and 25, and Bragg was 
driven back into Georgia. 

The Federal navy was gradually taking possession of the whole coast, and 
Charleston was tightly blockaded. In March the Confederate ship Nash- 
ville was sunk in the entrance of the Savannah River. 

During this year both governments were forced to resort to conscription. 
Lincoln ordered a draft, and, in July, a three days' riot in consequence pre- 
vailed in New York, during which two million dollars' worth of property was 
destroyed. 

1864. — In March, Grant was put in command of the whole Union army, 
the grade of lieutenant-general having been revived in his behalf. He left 
Sherman in command, repaired to Washington, and, May 3, started on the 
third campaign against Richmond, with a force of one hundred and forty 
thousand. Sherman, with one hundred thousand, was to march to Atlanta. 
The whole strength of the Union army at this time was about seven hun- 
dred thousand. Grant had spent some weeks in formulating his plans of 
campaigns, from the main features of which he never deviated. The Union 
had at last found the man, and at the same time had acquired the wisdom to 
leave the conduct of the war to his judgment; proving, also, that "there 
is no war on record that has not given its man to the world or shaped the 
destiny of some other." 

Crossing the Rapidan, Grant encountered the Confederates, and the fight- 
ing, on the 5th, 6th, and 7th, of the battles of the Wilderness, was terrific, 
but the result undecisive. At Spottsylvania he fought from the 8th to the 
18th with fearful loss. June 1, he was repulsed at Cold Harbor, and again 
on the 3d, and fighting, more or less desultory, continued in that vicinity 
until the 12th. Since the opening of the campaign, the Union army had lost 
sixty thousand men ; the Confederate thirty thousand. Grant moved on 
Petersburg and began the siege which lasted from June until the next April. 
The western part of Virginia had seceded from the eastern portion, and, 
June 20, was admitted into the United States. 

To divert Grant, and, if possible, to raise the siege of Petersburg, in July, 
Lee sent General Early to threaten Washington and Baltimore, which he 
accomplished without, however, affecting Grant's position. Returning laden 




GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 



388 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

with spoils, Early turned, and driving back the Federal troops invaded 
Pennsylvania, burning Chambersburg, and came back again bringing vast 
quantities of supplies. Sheridan was sent to dispose of Early and to ravage 
the valley. At Winchester, he met and defeated Early in a very severe fight 
on October 20, almost destroying the force under that general's command. 
Sherman set out for Chattanooga on May 7, marching towards Atlanta. At 
Dalton he met General Johnston's army of fifty thousand men. Johnston's 
masterly retreat from Dalton to Atlanta is unrivaled in military history. 
He made a stand from May 25 to June 4 at Dallas, but. being outflanked, 
was obliged to fall back. The next stand was made at Great Kenesaw, on 
June 22, when he repulsed the Federals. On the 27th, Sherman made a 
powerful assault, but was again repulsed with a loss of four thousand, John- 
ston's loss being four hundred ; but, again outflanked, Johnston was forced 
across the Chattahooehie, and July 10 found the Confederate army entrenched 
in Atlanta. 

Johnston's retreating tactics caused the people to clamor for a " fighting 
leader," and Davis, in transferring the command from Johnston at such a 
crucial time, committed a grave error. Johnston was superseded by General 
Hood, whose chief ambition was to fight, which, in this case, was a great 
mistake in judgment. On the 20th, 22d, and 28th of July, Hood assaulted 
the lines of the besiegers, only to be repulsed again and again. In these 
fights more men were lost than during Johnston's long, skillful retreat. An 
injudicious movement by Hood separated his command, obliging him to 
evacuate Atlanta, of which Sherman, on September 2, took possession. In 
its advance on Atlanta, the Union army had lost thirty thousand men. Hood 
saved his army and made his way towards Nashville, hoping to divert Sher- 
man from Georgia. At Franklin, November 30, he met General Schofield, 
and drove him back to Nashville, from whence General Thomas made a 
sortie, and fell upon Hood's troops, December 15, completely routing them. 
In the two fights, Hood lost in killed, wounded, and captured over eleven 
thousand. With the remnant he escaped into Alabama, and these finally 
reached Johnston, participated in his last fight with Sherman, and were sur- 
rendered at Raleigh with the troops of their old commander. 

November 14, Sherman burned Atlanta, cut all telegraph lines and began 
his " March to the Sea," ravaging, devastating, and utterly destroying every- 
thing in his reach. He was opposed by the Confederate cavalry, which 
successfully defended the cities of Macon and Augusta, upon which the 
Confederacy mainly depended for the manufacture of munitions of war. 
Sherman entered Savannah on December 22, the advance having cost him 
only 567 men killed and wounded. 

On June 19, the celebrated sea fight between the Kearsarge and the Ala- 
bama took place off Cherbourg, France. The Alabama was sunk after a five 
hours' fight. Admiral Semmes was rescued by the Deerhound, belonging to 
an English gentleman, and thus saved from capture. August 5, Commodore 
Farragut, overcoming the Confederate ram Tennessee and the gunboats, 
sailed into Mobile Ba} T , commanding his fleet from the maintop of his flag- 
ship. 

1865. — The opening of the campaign of 1865 found Grant's army still 
before Petersburg. On April 2, he ordered an attack along his whole line, 




SHERMAN S MARCH TO THE SKA. 



390 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

which had been so lengthened that the lines of Lee's depleted army were 
very thin. The Confederates were driven back with heavy loss. Lee tele- 
graphed to Davis : ■• My lines are broken in three places ; we can hold Peters- 
burg no longer. Richmond must be evacuated this evening." That night 
Admiral Semmes, in obedience to orders, destroyed the Confederate fleet in 
the James River. Richmond was in the possession of the Union forces the 
next day, and on April 4 Lincoln held a reception in Davis's vacated mansion. 
Lee attempted to break through Grant's lines at Appomattox, but closely 
pursued by Sheridan, and finding further retreat impossible, he surrendered 
with about twenty-six thousand men on the 9th of April. 

Grant's magnanimous terms were worthy of his fame. The troops were 
paroled on condition of promise not to take up arms until exchanged. The 
officers were permitted to keep baggage and side arms, and all were to retain 
their horses, as, Grant said, " they would be needed in the crops." 

Turning northward from Savannah, Sherman continued his march and 
reached Fayetteville, North Carolina. Wilmington had been captured early 
in the year by a land and naval force. Johnston had been reinforced by the 
garrison which had been forced to evacuate Charleston and the remnant of 
Hood's army, and had several severe fights, with no decisive results, with 
Sherman, who entered Raleigh ; and here, on April 26, Johnston's army sur- 
rendered on the same terms given by Grant. 

December 31 and January 1 Fort Fisher was captured, and on January 
12 Wilmington was entered by the Federals; February 18, Charleston was 
captured. 

The regular battles during the Civil War numbered 892. Lincoln called 
in all for 2,690,000 men. There were actually in service 1,490,000. There 
were 400,000 disabled ; 304,369 perished ; 220,000 were captured, and 26,000 
died in captivity. The expenses of the war Avere $3,500,000 per day. The 
national debt was $2,700,000,000. 

This great American War was fought on both sides with a courage and 
fortitude never before experienced in the annals of warfare. As compared 
with the statements of forces and losses in battles of European armies, 
the casualties in the battles of the Civil War were three and four times 
as great. And this proves that in the American War each side met " foe- 
men worthy of their steel." These overwhelmingly fearful casualties are 
not to be explained otherwise. And each section respects the other more 
than before the war — a war in which the conquered felt not, nor said, 
peccavi, and in which surrender to greater numbers and heavier artillery in- 
volved no sacrifice of belief in the truth and justice of their cause. Was there 
ever an armed strife that brought forth greater generals or more knightly 
valor, undiminished courage and unflinching fortitude on the part of comba- 
tants ? Together must the names of Grant and Lee go down to posterity as 
great types of the American soldier, — the one, noble and generous in victory; 
the other, though a hero uncrowned by success, a warrior still more heroic 
in defeat. 

The Spanish-American War. — The proximate causes of the war with 
Spain are tersely set forth in the Joint Resolution declaring the independ- 
ence of Cuba and demanding the withdrawal of Spanish sovereignty there- 
from, which says : — 



LEADING WARS OF THE CENTURY 



391 



"Whereas, The abhorrent conditions which have existed for more than 
three years in the island of Cuba, so near our own borders, have shocked 
the moral sense of the people of the United States, have been a disgrace 
to Christian civilization, culminating as they have in the destruction of a 
United States' battleship, with 266 of its officers and crew, while on a 
friendly visit in the harbor of Havana, and cannot longer be endured, as 
has been set forth by the President of the United States in his message 




LEE'S SURRENDER AT APPOMATTOX. 



to Congress of April 11, 1898, upon which the action of Congress was in- 
vited ; therefore, 

'•Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled: 

" First, That the people of the island of Cuba are, and of right ought to be, 
free and independent. 

" Second, That it is the duty of the United States to demand, and the 
Government of the United States does hereby demand, that the Government 
of Spain at once relinquish its authority and government in the island of 
Cuba, and withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba and Cuban waters. 



392 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



" Third, That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is, di- 
rected and empowered to use the entire land and naval forces of the United 
States, and to call into the actual service of the United States the militia of 
the several States to such extent as may be necessary to carry these resolu- 
tions into effect. 

" Fourth, That the United States hereby disclaims any disposition or in- 
tention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said Island, 
except for the pacification thereof, and asserts its determination when that 
is completed to leave the government and control of the Island to its 
people." 

This resolution was signed by the President at 11.24 o'clock a. m., April 20, 
1898. 

It was on February 15, 1898, that the catastrophe referred to — the blowing 




MORKO CASTLE, SANTIAGO, CUBA. 



up of the Maine — occurred. On April 25, the formal declaration of war was 
made. 

Spain had three fleets, — Admiral Cervera's flying squadron, the Asiatic 
fleet under Admiral Montejo, and Admiral Camara's fleet of heavy armored 
vessels. 

The American navy is always ready for emergencies, and even with the 
grudging appropriations made by Congress, the " new navy," while not pos- 
sessing vessels of such large size as those of some other nations, was much 
more formidable than was generally supposed. Congress, apprehending the 
outcome, had given the President $50,000,000 to put the country on a war 
footing. In reply to the call for 125,000 volunteers, five times that number 
offered themselves. 

It had been more than fifty years since the United States had encountered 
a foreign foe, and since the close of the Civil War, for a third of a century, 
peace had reigned. 

April 25, by cable to Hong Kong, Commodore Dewey was ordered to find 
and destroy the Spanish Asiatic fleet, which he proceeded to do on May 1st, 




ADMIRAL OEORGE DEWEY. 



394 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



without the loss of a single man. Entering Manila Bay, scorning torpe- 
does and mines, his wonderful battle at Cavite is the admiration of the 
world. 

Schley, with his flying squadron, watched in Hampton Roads for an attack 
by the enemy on the Atlantic coast. Havana was blockaded by Sampson's 
squadron April 22, and his searchlights seen from the Cuban capital were 
as the handwriting on the sky, foredooming Spanish rule. His tactics 
were to take no risk with his vessels while awaiting the appearance of the 
Spanish ships, so he failed to return the greeting of the shore batteries. 

The first casualties of the war were in Cardenas harbor May 11, when upon 




MAIN DKCK OF CRUISEB CHICAGO. 



the Winslow, while chasing a decoy gunboat too far under the fire of the land 
batteries, Ensign Bagley and four sailors were the first men of the navy to lay 
down their lives. 

It was known that Cervera had sailed from Cadiz toward the West Indies. 
Sampson made a tour of Porto Bico to hunt the Spaniard, who mysteriously 
eluded the sight of the Americans. San Juan was bombarded on May 12. 
On May 30 Schley, who in the meantime had arrived off Santiago, dispatched : 
"I have seen the enemy's ships with my own eyes." Cervera had then been 
in the harbor ten days. On the 31st, Schley commenced a bombardment, and 
the forts at the mouth of Santiago harbor and the vessels within replied for 
an hour. June 1 Sampson came, and all hope of escape for Cervera was cut off. 
On that night Lieutenant Hobson executed his bold, heroic plan of sinking 



396 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

the Merrimac in the channel of the harbor, which was accomplished without 
the loss of one of his seven co-heroes, although subjected to a deadly tire 
from forts and vessels. 

The first troops landed on Cuban soil were the marines, 650 in number, 
under Lieutenant-Colonel Huntington. This battalion had been on board the 
Panther since May 22, and the men were eager to land. After Sampson had 
shelled the shore and adjacent hills and woods, on the afternoon of June 10 
the landing was made and the American Hag raised for the first time on 
Spanish territory in the west. No Spaniards were seen until after the tents 
had been erected and the evening shadows were falling. Then for five nights 
and days there was no sleep for these men, than whom there were no greater- 
heroes in this short, sharp war. With few exceptions they received their 
"baptism of fire," and nobly did they acquit themselves. 

I am told that when almost utterly exhausted the first platoon reached the 
summit of Cusco hill, so exactly in unison w r as their fire that the Spanish, be- 
lieving that machine guns were opening upon them, turned and ran, never 
again making a stand/ The first to consecrate the soil with his life's blood 
was Dr. John Blair Gibbs, who left a $10,000 practice in New York to go as 
surgeon of the battalion, and who had greatly endeared himself to both offi- 
cers and men. Sergeant Goode, one of the finest subalterns in the corps, and 
four men were killed. The good condition and health of this battalion during 
the whole campaign were due to the fine organization of the commissariat 
and the strict discipline maintained in this corps. 

General Shaffer arrived off Santiago, June 20, with a force of 773 officers 
and 14,564 men. General Garcia, the Cuban commander, with four thousand 
insurgents, was at Assuadero, eighteen miles west. There he, Shafter, and 
Sampson held a consultation. On the 22d, the disembarkment of troops was 
begun. On the morning of the 23d. General Lawton with his division ad- 
vanced to Juragua. Major-General Wheeler, after landing 964 of his force, 
pursuant to General Shaffer's orders, moved rapidly to the front, and. passing 
through Lawton's lines, pushed on to Las Guasimas, attacking and defeating 
General Linares on the morning of June 24. 

The entire American force was pressed forward under General Wheeler, 
General Shafter being detained on the ships to attend to the landing of the 
armament and supplies. On the 29th, the commanding general left his ships 
and pitched his camp on the Santiago road, and on the next day orders were 
given for an attack along the whole line. In carrying out these orders, Gen- 
eral Lawton with about six thousand men attacked El Caney, a small town 
about five miles north of Santiago. The garrison consisted of 520 men, the 
defenses being one block-house and a shore fortification. It was not until 
four o'clock that General Lawton's success was complete. His loss was 
437 killed and wounded, and but 30 of the enemy succeeded in escaping and 
reaching the Spanish lines. While Lawton was moving on El Caney, the 
cavalry division, unmounted, and Kent's infantry division were ordered to 
move forward. Crossing San Juan Kiver at a point about five hundred 
yards from the enemy's fortifications on San Juan ridge, the left of the 
cavalry rested on the main Santiago road and the infantry formed to the 
left of the cavalry. These troops were subjected to a very heavy fire in 
advancing from El Pozo, in crossing the river and in forming on the other 



LEADING WARS OF THE CENTURY 



397 



side ; they, however, most bravely charged the enemy in their strong position 
on Kettle Hill and San Juan ridge, and drove them precipitately from their 
strong fortifications ; the American loss being 154 killed and 997 wounded. 




GENERAL JOSEPH WHEELER. 
(Copyright by Aime Dupont, 1899.) 



This placed the Americans in a position commanding the fortifications around 
the city of Santiago. 

The Spanish fleet, consisting of five armored cruisers of 7.000 tons and 2 
torpedo-boat destroyers, attempted to escape from Santiago at 9.30 o'clock on 
Sunday morning, July 3, just nine weeks after the destruction of Montejo's 



398 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



fleet. Schley and Sampson destroyed the vessels and made prisoners of 70 
officers and 1600 men ; 350 were killed and 160 wounded. 

Fighting more or less severe occurred until the 10th, when negotiations 
for surrender were inaugurated, resulting in the capitulation of Santiago, 




THE TRUCE BEFORE SANTIAGO. 



July 16, the Spanish fortifications, twenty-four thousand prisoners, and a 
large amount of arms and ammunition. At noon on Sunday, July 17, 1898, 
the American flag was hoisted over the headquarters at Santiago. 

General Miles started on the invasion of Porto Rico, July 25, and reached 
Guanica at daylight next morning. He landed with three thousand five 
hundred men, marched toward Yauco, five miles distant, which he entered 



LEADING WARS OF THE CENTURY 399 

after a skirmish, and was received enthusiastically by the citizens, as he also 
was at Ponce, where he was joined by General Wilson, who had come with 
the war ships, and who was made governor. The army continued on to San 
Juan along the military road, meeting very little opposition. 

July 26, the French ambassador, M. Jules Cambon, acting for Spain, made 
overtures for peace. The protocol was signed on April 21, by M. Cambon 
and Secretary of State Day. A cessation of hostilities was proclaimed. At 
the very moment of the signing of the protocol, the last naval battle took 




AGUINALDO, THE TAGAL LEADEU. 

place at Manzanilla, Cuba, and an artillery engagement at Aybonito in Porto 
Rico. 

The one-hundred-days Spanish- American war was concluded by the treaty 
of Paris. 

It will be only in the retrospect that we may tell the results of this con- 
flict. As the future unfolds them to our view, it may be that it will have 
been more momentous in its consequences than we can now determine. One 
thing it has proved, that is, that this nation is really reunited ; for, from all 
sections and from all grades of life, men flocked together to fight and con- 
quer under the old Stars and Stripes. 



400 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 



II. FOREIGN WARS. 



Napoleonic Waks. — The loug contest between France and Austria began 
when the Girondist ministry of France declared war, April 20, 1792. By 
the execution of Louis XVI., January 21, 1793, the Revolution threw down 
the gauntlet to all ancient Europe. England, whose sympathies had hitherto 
been more or less with France, began to take measures to bring about more 
cordial relations with the other powers of Europe. Spain, Portugal, Austria,. 
Prussia, and Russia, tor the time seemed to forget their several grievances as 
they found themselves confronted with a totally new move on the chessboard 
of European autonomy. The year 1794 saw the French Revolution progress- 
ing triumphantly, and all Europe, except England and Austria, appeared 
anjuiescent in apathetic indifference. In 1795 the royalists made a supreme 
effort to recover power, but were crushed by the "Man of Destiny," and the 
Directory, consisting of five members, of whom Garnot was one. came into 
power. Dominated by the martial genius of Carnot, " the organizer of vic- 
tory," the Directory won the confidence of the army. Scherer, the com- 
mander, lacked the qualifications to undertake a successful campaign against 
Austria, and Bonaparte, succeeding him. soon infused his own spirit into the 
army and hound it to himself with a devotion that never failed. 

Early in the year 1800, Napoleon, having been made first consul, took up 
his abode in the old palace of the kings of France, the Tuileries. The his- 
tory of Napoleon for the ensuing fifteen years is the history of Europe. It 
is. therefore, best to begin with the close of the eighteenth century, in order 
to appreciate the situation at the dawn of the nineteenth. 

Austria and England, with several small German principalities, were still 
in arms against France. The plans and movements of the armies under 
Xipoleon showed him to be verily a master in military skill. Opening this 
campaign, he left Massena with about eight thousand soldiers to hold the 
territory from Nice to Genoa, so as to keep the Austrian army in Italy busy. 
He sent the Rhine army, under Moreau, to threaten Bavaria and to secure 
the most important position between flu 1 Rhine and the Danube. Moreau 
drove the Austrians to Ulm, and disposed his left flank to support Napoleon. 
Meantime, he himself was recruiting another army for operations on the 
Po. Baron de Melas, commanding the Austrian troops in Northern Italy, 
besieged Massena in Genoa, which, after severe suffering, surrendered, leav- 
ing De Melas free to join the army of the Po. Napoleon was between de 
Melas and Austria. General Ott, with eighteen thousand men, attempted to 
reach Placentia, but Lannes, with twelve thousand, defeated him at Monte- 
bello, forcing him back to Allesandria. Napoleon hastened across the Po to 
Stradella to intercept De Melas and prevent his breaking through the French 
lines to Placentia. 

The night of June 13, 1800, the French army was scattered, watching 
along the Po and the Tessino for the Austrians, while their army, forty 
thousand strong, with ten thousand more not far distant, was ready at day- 
break of the 14th to cut its way through the armies of France, and reach 
Placentia. The French force was but eighteen thousand, but Victor with 
his division held his position firmly, and the great leader, Kellerman, was in 
command of the cavalry. Backward and forward surged the battle with 



LEADING WARS OF THE CENTURY 



401 



varying fortune, and at noon victory seemed perched upon the banners of 
Austria. De Melas was so certain that the battle was won that he galloped 
back to Allesandria and sent dispatches to that effect to the governments of 




NAPOLEON, 1814. (MEISSONIEK.) 



Europe. General de Zach was left in command to conduct the pursuit and 
to drive the French across the Scrivia. Napoleon, dismayed, hoping against 
hope that Desaix, whom he had sent towards Novi the day before to look 
out in that quarter for De Melas, might hear the thunders of the battle and 
26 



402 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

return, saw him in the distance, hurrying with his troops, who, though worn 
and tired, were eager for the fight, and Napoleon saw already the tide of 
battle turned. 

Desaix had found no trace of the Austrians, but he had heard the sound of 
battle at day dawn, and he knew that De Melas was there, and that there he 
was needed, and not at Novi. He roused his division, and hastened back 
to Napoleon. A short conference with his chief, to whose questioning he 
answered, " The battle is lost, but it is only three o'clock, there is yet time 
to win another," and the battle of Marengo, glorious in its consequences to 
Napoleon, stupendous in its carnage, was won ; but Desaix, the brave pala- 
din, lay dead upon the field. De Melas returned from Allesandria to meet 
the victorious army he had left — flying in disorder — thoroughly routed. 
On December 2, Moreau and Ney won the field of Hohenlinden, and the 
" peace of Luneville " was concluded, February 9, 1801. 

The result of this campaign was the cession of Austria's strongholds in 
the Tyrol and Bavaria to France, as also a number of important holdings in 
Italy. France secured the left bank of the Rhine, the Belgian provinces and 
Tuscany, and the king of Naples closed his harbors to England. In March, 
1802, by the " treaty of Amiens," peace was concluded with England. 

The coalition of Denmark, Sweden, Russia, and Prussia, with France 
against England, in 1800, fomented by Napoleon, broke down in 1801, after 
Nelson's battle of Copenhagen. 

England had secured the supremacy of the sea and dominion over India, 
rescued Portugal, Naples, and the States of the Church from France, and 
restored the Sublime Porte to Turkey. Finding Napoleon again militating 
against her interests, and resenting his encroachments, England declared war 
against France in the spring of 1803. Russia espoused the cause of Eng- 
land, Prussia held off, and Austria was friendly, though not in fighting trim. 
The third coalition comprised England, Russia, and Austria. 

Powerless to hurt England on the seas, Napoleon, who had the year previ- 
ous been proclaimed emperor, attacked Austria, invaded her territory, cap- 
tured her army at Ulm, proceeded to Vienna, and occupied a great part of the 
valley of the Danube. On December 2, 1805, the " Battle of the Three Em- 
perors " (the battle of Austerlitz) was fought. The " Peace of Pressburg," con- 
cluded December 26, left Austria shorn of her ancient prestige, her title of 
German Empire, and of a great part of her possessions. The " Sun of Aus- 
terlitz " melted the third coalition. In the meantime the battle of Trafalgar, 
won by the immortal Nelson, crushed the naval power of both France and 
Spain. 

In September, 1806, Prussia declared war against France, and, to the 
amazement of Europe, alone undertook to engage armies flushed from their 
recent victories and still in Germany. October 14, Napoleon utterly defeated 
the Prussians at Jena and Auerstadt, and entered Berlin a conquerer, the 
king having fled to Konigsberg. Russia came to the aid of Prussia, but ar- 
rived too late to accomplish anything except to check the advance of the 
French, whose armies wintered on the Vistula. The next summer, however, 
the Russians met their final defeat in this campaign at Friedland, and Konigs- 
berg was taken. The " Treaty of Tilsit " ended the operations of this fourth 
coalition July 7, 1807. 



LEADING WARS OF THE CENTURY 



403 



The fifth coalition against Napoleon comprised England, Austria, Spain, 
and Portugal. The decisive battle of this campaign was at Wagram, July 5 
and 6, 1809, and terrible as were the consequences of his defeat to Austria, so 
crippled was Napoleon that he willingly granted the armistice of Znaim and 
concluded the " Peace of Vienna." When the fifth coalition ended, Napoleon 
had acquired the Illyrian provinces and part of the Tyrol for France, and 
eventually the Emperor's daughter, 
Maria Louisa, for bis wife. 

In 1812 came war with Russia, 
and that most disastrous campaign 
which cost France more than three 
hundred thousand soldiers and Na- 
poleon his empire. Russia, Eng- 
land, Prussia, and Sweden formed 
the coalition now, and Turkey had 
made peace with Russia. Napoleon 
crossed the Niemen in June, halted 
at Wilna to put his new conscripts 
in better order, addressed words of 
sympathy to Poland, and took mea- 
sures to keep Austria conciliated. 
The Russians retreated before him. 
He met and fought and defeated 
them at Smolensk, August 17 ; they 
retreated in good order, burning and 
destroying all in their reach. The 
terrible battle of Borodino was 
fought September 7; the defeated 

Russians again retreated in good order, pursuing the same tactics. Napoleon 
reached Moscow September 15, but the heroic measure of Russia in destroy- 
ing that city was equal in its results to several victories. October 15, the 
French troops commenced their fearful retreat. The Russian armies grew 
bold, they harassed the French troops, weak from hunger and cold, and from 
Moscow to Wilna their progress was one continual guerilla warfare. From 
Wilna, their flight to France, December 5, was even more disastrous. Of 
the grand army that set out in the spring not one fourth ever returned. 

Affairs in Spain had fared badly for France. Wellington defeated the 
French army in Spain, and finally expelled it. France, though sometimes 
shaken in her devotion by the conscription that was draining her children's 
blood, stilf had faith in Napoleon, and in 1813, having raised another grand 
army, he undertook to subjugate Prussia. His first victory was on the plain of 
Lutzen. The Prussians and Russians retreated in good order through Dres- 
den. Napoleon pursued and drove them from Bauken, on May 20 and 21, 
and established ,his headquarters at Dresden. Austria now joined the allies. 
In their attack upon Dresden, August 26 and 27, they were defeated, but 
Russian troops and the King of Bavaria coming up made Napoleon's 
position untenable. The allies were awaiting him at Leipsic. The battle 
raged for three days, and Napoleon withdrew on October 19, utterly de- 
feated. 




ADMIRAL, HORATIO NELSON. 



404 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

January 23, 1814, Napoleon, having raised another army, left Paris to 
assume command. The allies — England, Austria, Prussia, and Russia — 
were more determined than ever to crush him. Many battles were fought, 
and the fortunes of war varied. Blucher defeated him at La Pothiers on the 
1st of February. Napoleon was the victor at Montenau ; unsuccessful at 
Soissons, March 3 ; victorious at Cravonne, March 7 ; and defeated by Blucher 
at Laon, March 9. With more than half his army lost, Napoleon worried the 
allies in their rear; but Blucher marched on Paris. The prestige of Napoleon 
and France in Europe was at an end. 

The Empress and the regency retired to Blois. On March 31 Paris surren- 
dered, and the Emperor of Russia and the King of Prussia entered the city. 
A pro visional government, with Talleyrand at its head, deposed Napoleon on 
April 2, and on April 6 he abdicated. May 30, the First Peace of Paris was 
concluded between France and the allies. France was to have her boundaries 
as they were in 1792, and also her foreign possessions, except Tobago, St. 
Lucia, and Mauritius, which, with Malta, were ceded to England. The Bour- 
bons, in the person of Louis XVIIL, were restored ; but the French people 
were not content, so that when Napoleon appeared at Cannes on March 1, 
1815, he was greeted with joy, even by the troops sent out to oppose him. 
This astonishing news was communicated to the Congress of the Allies assem- 
bled at Vienna. The allied armies at once gathered on the borders of France, 
Wellington landed in Flanders, and Blucher's Prussians joined him. Wel- 
lington, finding Napoleon in front of him, fell back to Waterloo, lest the 
approach of the Prussians should be cut off. Napoleon hurled his force on 
Blucher at Fluores, and victoriously drove him from the field on the loth. 
Ney, who had been sent to confront Wellington, fought at Quatre Bras, and 
the following day joined Napoleon. On the 18th of June, 1815, Napoleon 
made his supreme and final effort to recuperate his lost fortunes and to re- 
establish his empire. 

The story of the battle of Waterloo, than which none ever fought was more 
decisive in its consequences, has been told and retold. The battle was at first 
undecided, victory seeming to incline to Napoleon, though the English and 
Germans with unflinching heroism still held the field until the afternoon, 
when Blucher, with his Prussians, at last arrived. Napoleon perceived that 
the supreme moment was at hand, and that his only hope w r as to crush Wel- 
lington before Blucher's advancing columns could be thrown into line of battle. 
He sent forward his magnificent Imperial Guard. They charged with chivalric 
splendor, fought with heroic desperation, were repulsed, — and the star of 
Napoleon set to rise no more. 

Finding his cause irretrievably lost, leaving the remnant of his army in 
command of Marshal Soult, Napoleon fled and, failing to find a passage to 
America, surrendered. This battle, magnificent in its results, ensured to 
England a long peace, and raised her to the first rank, for military prowess, 
among the nations of the world. 

Napoleon's skill at Waterloo was up to the highest standard of his most 
glorious work ; but he was overwhelmed by preponderance in numbers. 
His entire force with which he conducted this campaign was barely 104,000, 
while the combined armies of Wellington and Blucher numbered 220,000. 

The Congress of Vienna restored the ancien regime, replacing dethroned 



406 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

monarchs upon their hereditary domains, but the parceling out of the smaller 
territories showed the Powers to be quite as arbitrary as Napoleon himself. 
The semi-decade of passive submission to the "policies of princes'' was 
broken in 1820 by general revolts in Europe. Spanish-American colonies, 
indignant at French interference in Spanish matters, began their struggles 
for independence. 

Greek War for Independence. — Since the capture of Constantinople 
by the Turks, in 1453, Greece had been subject to Turkey. Out of the de- 
feats of several rebellions against the greed, tyranny, and brutality of the 
Moslem, — particularly from the revolutions of 1770 and 1790, — grew the 
secret society of the Hetseria, cementing the union of the Greeks for the 
struggle beginning in 1821. It is claimed that ten thousand Greeks were 
slaughtered within a few days, and thirty thousand in less than three 
months. 

Mahmoud, having failed in 1825 to crush the rebellion, called Mehemet Ali, 
the Pasha of Egypt, to his aid. Mehemet sent Ibrahim, his son, with his 
army and navy, trained in the tactics of European warfare, into the Pelopon- 
nesus. Victory and devastation marked his course. Never was grander 
courage nor loftier bravery displayed than by the Greeks. The siege of Mis- 
solonghi lasted from April 27, 1825, until April 22, 1826. Athens was cap- 
tured, June 2, 1827. The fleets of England, France, and Russia were cruising 
on the coasts to prevent attacks by the Turks on the islands. Approaching 
the bay of Navarino, they were attacked by the Turks and Egyptians, whose 
combined fleets were thereupon annihilated on October 20, 1827. The Sultan 
was forced by the powers to consent to the establishment of the kingdom of 
Greece, and his delay to do so was punished by Czar Nicholas, who declared 
war, crossed the Balkans, and at Adrianople in 1829 compelled the Sultan to 
recognize her independence, grant Christian governors to Servia, Moldavia, 
and Wallachia, and to yield Bessarabia to Russia. 

Minor European Wars. — The French Revolution of 1830, placing 
Louis Philippe on the throne of France, brought about Belgium's inde- 
pendence. 

The Polish insurrection of 1831-32 lost Poland her last vestige of liberty, 
enchaining her irretrievably under the tyranny of Russia. 

From 1840 to 1852 England was engaged in quelling periodic wars in her 
Indian possessions. In 1841, her army, numbering seventeen thousand men, 
perished in their retreat from Afghanistan. So with France in Algiers and 
Morocco. And revolts in Spain were more or less successful. 

In 1842, England's war with China, caused by seizure of opium, resulted 
in the cession by China of Hong Kong, the freedom of five other ports, and 
$21,000,000 indemnity. 

In 1848, the revolutionary spirit broke out fiercely, and the people made 
strong leaps for liberty and constitutional government. In France, it over- 
threw Louis Philippe, establishing a republic, with Louis Napoleon President. 
In all Europe its echo resounded. Riots in Vienna forced Metternich to flee 
to England ; Ferdinand, to take refuge in the Tyrol and to abdicate in favor 
of his son, Francis Joseph. Frederick William was compelled by the condi- 
tions in Berlin to promise a constitution. The Frankfort Assembly, in 1849, 
offered Frederick William the title and prerogative of Emperor of Germany, 



LEADING WARS OF THE CENTURY 407 

and though, because of his respect for the Hapsburgs, he declined the honor, 
he still took advantage of the sentiment that prompted the offer to so 
strengthen the dynasty that later it might be held. 

Hungary rose against Austria in 1848, and almost won independence. 
Kossuth proclaimed Hungary a republic, and Nicholas immediately sent aid 
to Austria. The Russian army, 130,000 strong, joined the Austrians. The 
Hungarians retreated to Temesvar, where they were defeated with great 
slaughter, and Georgy surrendered, August 9, 1849. The name of Haynau, 
the Austrian commander, is held in execration for his awful cruelty to the 
conquered. 

In the meantime Italy rose. Lombardy drove out the Austrians. Charles 
Albert, king of Sardinia, had declared war on Austria and crossed the Mincio, 
April 8, 1848. Radetsky, commanding the Austrians, lost Gorto and yielded 
Peschiera in May, but in June he forced the Papal troops, who were assisting 
Charles Albert, to surrender, and completely routed the Italians at Custozza, 
July 25, and entered Milan. Charles Albert was' again defeated by Radet- 
sky at Novari, March 23, 1849, and Venice was captured August 23. Charles 
Albert resigned his crown to his son, Victor Emmanuel, and died shortly 
after. 

Pope Pius IX. was forced to flee from Rome. Mazzini established the 
Roman republic in November. Austria, by the close of the summer of 1849, 
had regained control of her disputed possessions. Louis Napoleon, taking 
part against Italy, occupied Rome with his troops, July 2, 1849, and drove out 
Mazzini and Garibaldi. 

The Crimean War. — In 1853, Louis Napoleon wanted war. He fomented 
trouble between the Porte and Nicholas, which ended by a declaration of war 
by Russia. The Czar claimed and demanded the protectorate of Christians in 
Turkey. Austria, France, and England opposed the demand. Nicholas had 
intimated to the British minister at St. Petersburg that England and Russia 
should share the partition of Turkey, — showing that he was ready to carry 
out the will and aims of Peter the Great and Catherine. The Russian army 
was thrown across the Pruth into Moldavia, and was at first worsted by the 
Turks. In deference to the wishes of Austria and Prussia, Nicholas with- 
drew his army from the Danubian provinces, and so secured their neutrality. 
He dislodged the Turkish fleet at Sinope, November 4, 1853. 

England and France allied with Turkey and declared war against Russia, 
March 28, 1854. The allied fleets and troops proceeded to the Black Sea. 
Sebastopol was the great arsenal of Russia. Twenty-seven thousand English, 
thirty thousand French, and seven thousand Turks were landed in the Bay of 
Eupatoria, thirty miles above Sebastopol, September 14, 1854, towards which, 
five days later, the southerly march began. The allies waded the river Alma 
under terrific fire from the large Russian army, and won a brilliant victory. 
The attack was remarkable in that it won victory over superior numbers in 
seemingly impregnable positions, and in spite of official blunders. Mentschi- 
koff, the Russian general, withdrew the crews from the ships in the harbor 
and put them, eighteen thousand strong, in command of the batteries. With 
his own army he marched out of Sebastopol, leaving twenty -five thousand de- 
fenders to the city. Admiral Korniloff and his able assistant, Colonel Von 
Todleben, undertook to strengthen the defenses and to inspire the troops. 



408 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 

On October 17, the siege guns of the allies were in position. The English 
stormed the suburbs of the city, the Malakoff and the Redan ; the French 
stormed the city. Both were unsuccessful. Russian troops poured into 
Sebastopol, and invited battle outside of the fortifications. At the harbor of 
Balaklava, Turkish troops recoiled from the Russian advance, and Sir Colin 
Campbell, with the Highland Brigade, saved the shipping and stores by 
timely check to the Russians. The battle of Balaklava, October 25, gave 
the town to the British after stubborn fighting, more than two thirds of 
the Light Brigade having been sacrificed to Lord Lucan's misconstruction 
of orders. 

At Inkerman, on November 5, sixty thousand Russians, in fog and rain, 
surprised the British Household Guards, and for six hours vainly strove to 
crush them. General Bosquet, with the genius of the soldier, guessed the 
point of severest attack, and sent reinforcements to the Guards. The Rus- 
sians were finally driven back. Little good resulted from these two stubborn 
battles. Winter put an end to active operations. Rain, hurricanes, insuffi- 
cient shelter, lack of supplies, and extreme cold produced fearful misery 
among the soldiers. Russia suffered as severely as did the allies, besides 
having had her fleet on the Black Sea destroyed and her army beaten. 

In April, 1855, the bombardment began again. In May the allies captured 
Kerteh and Yenikale, thus cutting off Russian supplies from the Caucasian 
provinces. In June, Marshal Pelissier succeeded Canrobert and successfully 
stormed Manelon ; and, after the abortive attacks, June 18, of the French on 
the Malakoff and the English on the Redan, General Simpson succeeded Lord 
Raglan. August 16, the Russians crossed Tchernaya, but were repulsed by 
the French. On September 8 the French carried the Malakoff ; the British 
failed to carry the Redan. The Russians set fire to the city and ships and 
retired to the northern part of the harbor, where they held strongly in- 
trenched positions opposite the allied armies and beyond the reach of the 
allied fleets. Russia was driven from the Black Sea, had lost her prestige 
in the Baltic Sea, Bomarsund, on the Aland islands, and the arsenal of 
Sweaborg, in the Gulf of Finland. She had saved Cronstadt, and, at 
terrible sacrifice, had captured Ears from the English General Williams 
with his army of Turks. Her vast territory was comparatively intact. The 
nations were not satisfied. The Peace of Paris increased the prestige of 
Louis Napoleon ; it postponed the Eastern Question by putting the Chris- 
tian subjects under the nominal protection of the Powers, but virtually 
under that of the Sultan. The treaty of peace was signed March 30, 1856. 

Wars in the East. — In 1857, the Indian Mutiny was caused by the 
introduction of Enfield rifles. Delhi was taken after desperate fighting, 
September 20. Cawnpore and Lucknow were the theatre of horrible scenes. 
The rebellion was finally crushed in 1859. 

In the meantime war with Persia was begun and ended by the recapture of 
Herat, in Afghanistan. In December, 1857, England and France made war 
on China and captured Canton. They secured many concessions by the 
Treaty of Tien Tsin, and $ 2,000,000 indemnity. 

War between Austria, France, and Sardinia. — In 1859, Louis Napo- 
leon made a secret alliance with Italy. General disarmament was proposed. 
Sardinia agreed to it ; Austria stood aloof. On April 25, 1859, Austria ordered 



410 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

the disarmament of Piedmont. On the 27th, King Victor Emmanuel pro- 
claimed war. On the 30th, French troops were in Turin. On May 13, Louis 
Napoleon himself disembarked at Genoa, where he was met by Victor Emma- 
nuel. The Austrian forces crossed the Ticino, en route for Milan, but hesitated, 
because of the French advance. The opening battles at Montebello and Bales- 
tro, May 20, 30, and 31, were favorable to the allies. 

At Magenta, June 4, the Austrians met with terrible defeat. The forces of 
the allies numbered 55,000, and their loss was 4000 ; the Austrian army of 
75,000 lost 10,000 killed and wounded and 7000 prisoners. The conquerors 
entered Milan on June 8. Francis Joseph fell back to the line of the Mincio, 
and at Solferino the decisive battle of the campaign was fought on June 24. 
Napoleon commanded the allied armies, which numbered about 150,000 ; they 
fought for sixteen hours against the Austrian force of 170,000, gaining a fear- 
ful victory. This battle cost Austria 20,000 men ; the French lost in killed 
and wounded 12,000 and the Sardinians 5000 men. 

The allies crossed the Mincio and laid siege to Peschiera, but while all 
Europe expected another fight, an armistice of five weeks was agreed to, and 
Napoleon, unknown to his ally, met Francis at Villaf ranca and made a peace, 
upon which was based the Treaty of Zurich, signed November 10. Austria 
gave Lombardy to Napoleon for the king of Sardinia, as also the fortresses of 
Mantua and Peschiera. Italy was to become a confederation, with the Pope 
as president, of which Austria was to be a member, because of her holdings 
in Venetia. Tuscany and Modena were to be restored to their princes. Gari- 
baldi's brilliant conquest of Sicily and Naples, in 1860, and Sardinia's growing 
power, startled Europe, but the nations dared not interfere. The general par- 
liament of Italy met in 1861, at Turin, and made Victor Emmanuel king of 
Italy. Rome, under the Pope, and Venetia, under Austria, were as yet dis- 
membered from " Young Italy." 

War with Denmark. — Christian IX. succeeded to the throne of Den- 
mark November 15, 1863. He endeavored to incorporate Schleswig with 
Denmark ; the German population repudiated him and appealed to the Con- 
federacy. The Diet sent troops into Holstein. Bismarck induced Austria to 
join Prussia in setting aside the London treaty of 1853, and the allied troops 
forced the Danes back to the intrenchments of Duppel. The capture of Dup- 
pel by the Prussians. April 18, proved the efficiency of needle guns and rifled 
cannon. June 22, the allies crossed the channel to the Island of Alsen and, 
on the 28th, captured the Danish stronghold Dennewerke, hitherto considered 
impregnable. The Treaty of Vienna, October 30, 1864, closed the war. 
Prussia and Austria together were to control the duchies. 

The Seven Weeks' War. — The arrangement between Prussia and Aus- 
tria respecting the Danish duchies caused the " Seven Weeks' War " of 1866. 
Bismarck induced Victor Emmanuel to form an alliance against Austria, 
March 27. The Prussians, on June 7, without a blow forced the Austrians to 
retire from Holstein, ignoring the protest of the Federal Diet. Austria was 
not prepared for war. Her army, together with that of Saxony, amounted to 
two hundred and seventy-one thousand. With Prussia, fully equipped and 
on a war footing with three armies, besides the reserves, the grand total 
estimated at three hundred thousand, the result was a foregone conclusion. 
Prussia declared war, June 15, 1866, against Hanover, Hesse, and Saxony, 



412 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX Ta CENTURY 

and next day threw her armies into the hostile states. On the 17th Francis 
Joseph published his war manifesto. Italy declared war, on the 20th, against 
Austria and Bavaria. In fourteen days Prussia's immense army was mobil- 
ized. In five days the northern states to the Main were disarmed, and the 
Saxon army was forced to retreat toward Bohemia. 

General Benedek was commander of the Austrians. Upon news of Prus- 
sian victories, he advised Francis Joseph to make terms of peace with Wil- 
liam. Prussia fought for German unification ; Austria to protect her pride. 
It was supposed the Austrians would first enter Saxony and dispute the 
Prussian advance, but Bismarck had determined the war should be brief, for 
Prussia was now master of the situation. On June 23, the Prussian army 
inarched from three points towards Josephstadt, where Benedek was prepar- 
ing to fight. On the 27th the Austrians were driven back at Soor, next day 
at Skalitz, and on the 29th at Gitschen. Archduke Leopold, on the 28th, 
and Count Clam Gallas, at Gitschen, both attacked the enemy in disobedi- 
ence of orders, and thus forced Benedek to fall back from his strongest 
position towards Koniggratz. The Austrians were also defeated, on the 28th, 
at Koniginhof and Schweinschadel, and their loss by this time numbered 
over thirty-five thousand. Benedek asked permission to retreat into Moravia 
and await reinforcements, but news of the Austrian victory over the Italians 
at Custozza reached Vienna, and immediately battle was enjoined upon Bene- 
dek. Benedek placed five hundred guns in position, spanning a league 
between the Elbe and Bistritz. 

On July 2, the king of Prussia assumed command of the Prussian hosts 
and ordered attack for the next day. The Crown Prince, several miles away 
with his army, received orders at four o'clock in the morning of the 3d to 
advance his Silesian army from Koniginhof. At eight o'clock, Prince Fred- 
erick Charles, with a hundred thousand, attacked the Austrian centre lying 
against Sadowa. General Herwarth, with foiir hundred thousand men, at- 
tacked the Austrian right. The whole Austrian army was hurled against 
these two commands for five hours. Prince Frederick Charles forced passage 
through the Bistritz and took Sadowa, but could not take the heights. At 
one o'clock retreat was being considered, but the Crown Prince coming up 
with his troops the heights were taken at four o'clock. The fighting on 
both sides in this battle was determined and heroic. The Prussian loss was 
over ten thousand, and the Austrians lost twenty-seven thousand killed and 
wounded, nineteen thousand prisoners, with 174 cannon and 11 colors. At 
Lissa, on July 20, the Austrian navy destroyed the Italian fleet. July 22, 
an armistice of four weeks was granted. The Peace of Prague was concluded 
August 23. Her defeat cost Austria Venetia and the quadrilateral, namely, 
the fortresses of Peschiera, Mantua, Verona, and Legnano, deprived her of 
any part in Germany or German affairs, and Ffolstein and Schleswig, and 
obliged her to pay 40,000,000 thalers, one half of which she was to retain in 
lieu of the duchies. 

Austria emerged from the " Seven Weeks' War " with her ideas somewhat 
liberalized, and though her territory was diminished her progress and pros- 
perity increased. The dual-Austro-Hungarian empire was formed by Francis 
Joseph, he ruling at Vienna as Emperor of Austria and at Buda Pesth as 
king of Hungary. This war also ended the Germanic confederation of 1815, 
and the North German Confederation under Prussia arose. 



LEADING WARS OF THE CENTURY 413 

At the peace of Vienna, October 3, Austria recognized the kingdom of 
Italy, and with the acquisition of Yeuetia and the quadrilateral fortresses 
the " Seven Weeks' War " had greatly helped on the cause of " United 
Italy." 

In April, 1864, Lonis Napoleon sent an army of twenty-five thousand to 
sustain the Austrian Archduke Maximilian on the throne of Mexico. At 
that time the United States was occupied with the Civil War. This ended, 
Napoleon was summarily required to withdraw his forces from the American 
continent, which he did. Maximilian was thus left to his fate, and, after 
being condemned by court martial, was shot at Queretaro. June 19, 1867. 

The Franco -Prussian War. — Prince Leopold, of Hohenzollern, was 
offered the throne of Spain after Isabella had fled from Madrid. Leopold 
declined, but Napoleon demanded that the Emperor William should guar- 
antee never to permit Leopold to accept. William refused to accede to the 
demand, and Napoleon, urged by the war party, declared Avar July 19, 1870. 
On the same day the Confederation placed its forces in the hands of William, 
as did the South Germans. This spontaneous uprising of all Germany was 
unlooked for. Napoleon's army numbered three hundred and ten thousand 
men. In ten days William had nearly half a million soldiers ready to march 
against the enemy. August 2, the first fight took place at Saarbriicken, a little 
town over the German frontier. Napoleon and the young Prince Imperial 
were present, and the force of Uhlans was driven back. August 4, the 
Crown Prince of Prussia drove the right wing of MacMahon's army back at 
Weissenburg, and on the 6th, again was MacMahon defeated at Worth. The 
Germans, having separated MacMahon's army, advanced into Alsace. In the 
meantime General Steinmetz carried Spicheren by storm, and the whole Ger- 
man army went forward. Together with the Crown Prince, Steinmetz, on 
the 14th of August, defeated Marshal Bazaine, at Courcelles, who retreated 
to Metz, and then endeavored to push on with his hundred thousand men to 
Chalons. Von Moltke hurried on the Crown Prince to intercept Bazaine, 
and at Mars la Tour was fought the fiercest battle, so far, of the war. On 
either side the losses amounted to seventeen thousand. Gravelotte was 
fought, on August 18, between the armies of Steinmetz and the Crown 
Prince, King William commanding in person. The battle lasted all day 
between two hundred thousand Germans and one hundred and eighty thou- 
sand French. The Germans lost twenty thousand men, and succeeded in 
forcing Bazaine into Metz. Although, in one sort, an undecisive battle, 
Gravelotte perhaps settled the fate of the Empire. MacMahon's plan was, 
with his one hundred and twenty -five thousand men reorganized at Chalons, 
to prevent the German advance on Paris. He was overruled and sent to the 
relief of Bazaine. Defeated in several small fights, MacMahon was obliged 
to fall back on Sedan. The heights and ridges above Sedan once occupied 
by hostile troops, surrender or annihilation was the outcome. MacMahon 
was wounded, then Ducrot, and the command fell to Wimpffen. Sedan was 
forced to surrender, September 1, and Napoleon himself gave his sword to 
King William. Paris was maddened. The Empress escaped to England. 
Napoleon was taken to the castle of Wilhelmshohe. 

A month had hardly passed since the outbreak of the war, and one of the 
two great French armies with the Emperor had been captured ; the other 



414 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

was besieged in Metz. Gambetta and other prominent men in Paris set up 
the government of the national defense. A republic was proclaimed. The 
defense of Paris was zealously undertaken. Large supplies of provisions 
were gathered. Fortifications were strengthened. The siege began Septem- 
ber 19, 1870, and ended January 28, 1871. The direst famine attended it. 
Gambetta left Paris in a balloon, and at Tours succeeded in forming the 
army of the Loire and the army of the North. Both were defeated. Stras- 
bourg was captured, and Metz surrendered with a hundred and seventy-three 
thousand men, among them three marshals of France. The entire German 
loss in this war was 129,700 men. 

January 17, 1871, Thiers was elected President of the Third Republic. 
Knowing the impossibility of further resistance, with half a million German 
soldiers, flushed and inspired by constant success, on the soil of France, and 
Paris in their anaconda coils, he counseled that peace be asked. Thiers, 
Favre, and Picard negotiated with William and Bismarck. An armistice of 
twenty days was permitted, that the National Convention then at Bordeaux 
might ratify terms. In the meantime the house of Hohenzollern reached the 
summit of its gratified ambition, when, on March 18, William was crowned 
at Versailles, Emperor of Germany. The cession of Alsace and Lorraine, and 
$1,000,000,000 indemnity, was the price of peace. 

No patriot name in all history deserves more reverence than that of Louis 
Adolphe Thiers. Upon him devolved the task of making peace with the 
German foe, of quelling the civil war, and of so managing the finances of 
France, that her people within two years were enabled, to the astonishment 
of the world, to pay the enormous indemnity extorted by the Germans, and, 
by September, 1873, the last franc was paid and the last German sentinel 
removed from the soil of France. 

The civil war between the Republic and the Commune settled the question 
once for all, that Paris, accountable for all the errors and vicissitudes of the 
country, is not France, and there is every reason to hope that out of the 
unequaled horrors of those awful days of carnage the republican government 
of France arose to remain in perpetuity. 

Garibaldi, taking advantage of the fall of Louis Napoleon, and caring not 
for the king's promises, took possession with his troops of the city of Rome, 
September 20, 1870, and on July 2 of the next year Victor Emmanuel erected 
his throne in the Quirinal. 

Turco-Russian War. — In 1875, the Bosnians, Turkish subjects, revolted. 
They maintained their struggle, and the enraged Turks sent Mohammedan 
troops among the defenseless Bulgarians, destroying unnumbered thousands 
of men, women, and children. Czar Alexander declared war April 1, 1877. 
His army crossed the Balkans and occupied Shipka Pass. Osman Pasha 
developed unexpected military genius and skill. For five months he checked 
the onward march of the Russians and won world-wide admiration by his 
defense of Plevna. By the first of December Plevna was invested com- 
pletely by the Russians. Driven back whenever attempting to make a sortie, 
starvation compelled Osman to surrender w T ith forty-four thousand troops. 
Adrianople was occupied. The Treaty of San Stefano was wrested in sight 
of Constantinople. It greatly reduced Turkish power in Europe, and consti- 
tuted Russia heir to Turkey in Europe. Bulgaria was to be protected by fifty 
thousand Russian troops for two years and to have a Christian governor. 



LEADING WARS OF THE CENTURY 



415 



Three months later, England formed a secret treaty with Turkey, securing 
Cyprus and agreeing to protect Turkey in Asia. Austria, too, was dissatis- 
fied, and the treaty of Berlin was made in 1878, to rectify the balances of 
the nations. Russia was by this treaty damaged in prestige and, shorn of 
triumphs, was given only Asiatic provinces. Turkey was stripped of all real 
power in Europe. 

Chino - Japanese War. — In 
Japan's declaration of war against 
China, August 1, 1894, she set 
forth succinctly the provocation 
forcing her to this action. She 
said that Korea had been brought 
into the notice of the nations of 
the world by her efforts ; that 
China constantly had interfered 
with Korea's government, insist- 
ently posing as her suzerain ; that 
when an insurrection in Korea 
broke out China sent troops into 
Korea, and that when Japan, un- 
der the treaty of 1885, also sent 
troops to assist Korea to quell the 
rebels, asking China's cooperation 
in the effort, China refused her 
rightful demand; that China's 
course tended to keep up the 
trouble indefinitely, so that the 
only course left for Japan was to 
declare war. 

As with Germany a score of years previously, when the time came Japan 
was ready, not only with munitions of war, but with better topographical 
knowledge of the enemy's country than they themselves possessed. The 
Emperor, whose dynasty antedates the Christian era, gave his people a 
constitution, and stretching his hand towards Korea he helped her in the 
same direction. He had Japan's army and her navy drilled by expert Euro- 
pean officers. Arsenals and extensive manufactories for the implements 
of war were started, with European superintendents. The latest and best 
of ships were both bought at foreign marts and made at home. Her stu- 
dents were to be found in the universities of the world. Her agents were 
sent to study in their capitals the economy of every government and the 
machinery of their executive departments. To find the best and assimilate 
it seemed the principle of her progression, so that both in military skill 
and the knowledge of diplomacy she acquired the ability to hold her place 
among the nations of the civilized world. A war alone was needed to prove 
that this was a fact. 

Japan's navy consisted of four armored cruisers and eight vessels of 
3000 tons each. This was a much lighter fleet than that of China, but 
swifter. China's navy had been trained by an able English naval chief, 
Captain Lang. Her outfit of ships was, perhaps, superior to that of Japan,. 




LOUIS ADOLPHE THIERS. 



416 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

consisting of five armored vessels, nine protected cruisers, and torpedo boats 
besides. The principal battle of this Chino-Japanese war was fought on 
September 15 at Ping Yang, an old capital of Korea, situated at the meeting 
of several roads. The Japanese landed troops at Gensan, on the northeast, 
and at Hwang-jo, on the northwest, coast of Korea. These formed the right 
and left wings of the army whose centre, under General Nodju, advanced 
from Seoul, about one hundred miles to the south, of which the Japanese 
were already in possession. Only one wing of the army met opposition in 
its inarch, a small battle having been fought. The forces, so far as we can 
learn, were between twenty and thirty thousand of Chinese and between 
thirty and forty thousand of Japanese. Japan's twenty-four years of scien- 
tific preparation, her study of the art of war, the practicability of her strategic 
movements. — admired by the soldiers of the world, — left China, with her old 
semi-barbarian methods, no chance for victory. 

The battle was a bloody one ; the defeated Chinese fled until they were on 
the other side of the Yalu River, in Manchooria. Seven hundred (some ac- 
counts say fourteen thousand) Chinese were captured, two thousand killed 
and wounded. The army continued fighting and conquering until prac- 
tically the. province of Manchooria was in Japan's possession, as well as the 
peninsula of Liaotung, terminating with Port Arthur. 

The battle of Yalu, or Hai Yun Tao, afforded the first practical test of 
modern vessels, guns, and projectiles in Asiatic waters. Ping Yang has been 
called China's Sedan, and Yalu, Japan's Trafalgar. Japan had nine cruisers 
and two converted cruisers wherewith to fight twelve Chinese warships and 
four torpedo boats. It is said that Japan used melanite shells. The fleet of 
Chinese warships, convoying transports with ten thousand troops, entered the 
Yalu River. The next day, September 17, the Japanese fleet, under Admiral 
Ito, went out to meet them. A European officer on a Chinese vessel suvs : 
"Passing along the Chinese line, the Japanese poured as heavy a fire as they 
could bring to bear upon each ship in succession, and, while they had sea- 
room, circled round their opponents. The Japanese state that no Japanese 
war-ship was lost and only three seriously injured." A Chinese officer says: 
"As soon as the Chinese on the port side had brought their guns to bear and 
had obtained range accurately, the Japanese would work around and attack 
the starboard side." Four ships were destroyed and two badly injured. One 
of the Chinese ships was said to have been hit two hundred times. The 
Chinese ironclads that escaped were later sunk off Wei Hai Wei. Port Ar- 
thur, captured October 21, was filled to overflowing with ammunition, grain, 
and other supplies. 

China made three informal overtures for peace. Finally, Li Hung Chang 
went from Tientsin to Shimonoseki, to make terms, on the 19th of March, 
1895. By the treaty there made, May 17, China recognized the independence 
and autonomy of Korea, ceded certain territory in Manchooria, all the islands 
in the eastern part of the bay of Liaotung and the northern part of the Yellow 
Sea, Formosa, and all islands belonging to it, and the Pescadores group. Two 
hundred million Kuping taels were exacted as indemnity, to be paid in eight 
instnllments, one every six months. The inhabitants were to sell out and 
leave, or in two years to be Japanese subjects. Russia, Germany, and France 
recommended that Japan should not permanently possess the peninsula of 
Feng Tan, and Japan agreed to their suggestions. 



418 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX 1H CENTURY 

Formosa, as a strategetical post, is of the greatest value. Korea and Japan 
now control absolutely the Japan Sea. It was only after four months of 
fighting that Japan completely conquered the Formosans and had all her new 
possessions under her control. 

China paid Japan an additional $30,000,000 for the release of Port Arthur 
and Liaotung peninsula. China was well pleased. But in April, 1897, 
Russia herself had obtained possession of Port Arthur and Talien Wan, and 
in December the Germans received Kaio Chao, the finest naval station of 
the province of Shantung. France subsequently obtained Kwang-Chau, the 
best port of Wangsi ; and England, though not joining these powers in the 
demand in favor of China in 1895, obtained Wei Hai Wei in 1897. 

Greco-Turkish War. — In 1895, the fearful atrocities committed by the 
"unspeakable" Turk began to assume appalling proportions. During three 
years one hundred thousand Cretans were murdered. February 8, 1897, the 
Cretans proclaimed union with Greece. The Greeks, unable longer to endure 
the sufferings of their kindred, determined to help them. 

Prince George left for Crete with a torpedo flotilla February 10 ; Colonel 
Vassos, aide-de-camp to the king, followed with fifteen hundred men and two 
batteries on the 13th. Prince Nicholas led a regiment of artillery to the 
Thessalian frontiers. The powers sent a collective note of protest to Greece, 
but it was not heeded. Colonel Vassos landed in Crete on the 14th. Sailors 
from the fleet of the powers occupied the coast towns of Crete. Pasha Bero- 
vitch resigned and returned to Constantinople. Greek reserves rallied 
promptly. Volunteers offered. Colonel Vassos established headquarters in 
the mountainous interior at Sphakia. 

March 18, the powers blockaded Crete. On the 27th, Crown Prince Con- 
stantine proceeded to the Turkish frontier. On April 5, the powers declared 
no gain should accrue to the combatant who approached Thessalian borders. 
April 8, three thousand Greeks crossed near Krania, began fighting, and were 
driven back. On April 17 Turkey declared war. On the 18th, a battle of 
twenty-four hours, in Milouna Pass, crowned Turkish arms with victory. 
Another hard fought battle, at Reveni, discomfited the Greeks. Greeks 
passed the Arta River and Greek ironclads bombarded Prevessa. On the 
19th, the Turks were in Thessaly and the Greeks in retreat to Larissa. After 
terrific battles Tornavo and Larissa, on the 25th, fell into the hands of the 
Turks. Colonel Smolenski fought desperately at Valestino, but had to yield; 
and Volo also fell to the Turks. The Turks occupied Pharsaos on May 6. 
Greece asked the powers for peace, May 8 ; Cretan autonomy was agreed to, 
and Turkey permitted armistice on the 15th. The war closed. Turkey was 
forced to yield all Thessalian territory, and Crete was relieved of Turkish 
oppression. Greece was forced to withdraw all support from Crete and pay 
$20,000,000 indemnity. 

The remarkable feature of this war was the intensely hard fighting from 
start to close, and the disposition of the powers to assist Turkey by interfer- 
ing with the Grecian navy. Frequently the Austrians helped the Turks by 
placing their guns in position. It was only when the Sultan conquered Thes- 
saly and threatened to keep it that the powers interposed. 

The crime committed by the powers against civilization and Christianity 
by their action seems incredible, even though the peace of Europe was 
therebv secured. 



LEADING WARS OF THE CENTURY 419 

England's Wars in the Soudan. — The Khedive of Egypt had obtained 
great loans from Europe. England and France took financial control of the 
country. Arabi Pasha inaugurated a rebellion and fortified Alexandria. 
Many Europeans were murdered, and England bombarded the city, taking 
possession July 12, 1882. General Wolseley, at Tel el Kebir, September 13, 
fought and defeated Arabi, who fled leaving two thousand dead. France 
withdrew from the financial arrangement. The English remained to put the 
Egyptians in condition for self-government. England has remained ever since. 

Mohammed Ahmed arose in the Soudan, proclaiming himself El Mahdi, 
the Mussulman Messiah. The barbarian hordes flocked to his banner. He 
defeated the Egyptians in four engagements, October, 1883. The Anglo- 
Egyptian force of ten thousand men, under General Hicks, was destroyed, 
only two escaping. General Gordon was sent to the relief of the Egyptian 
army. He reached Khartoum, February 18, 1884. The Mahdists besieged 
the city. Gordon sent for reinforcements. England was so slow in sending 
them that they arrived two days too late. Khartoum was captured through 
treachery, and Gordon, the most beloved of English soldiers for his saintly 
and heroic character, was put to death on January 27, 1885. 

General Sir Horatio Herbert Kitchener was made Sirdar in 1890. He 
started from Cairo with one thousand British and fifteen thousand Egyp- 
tians, black and fellah troops, building a road across the desert as he ad- 
vanced, and engineering his gunboats up the Nile. The distance from his 
base, at Cairo, to his first storehouse, at Wady Haifa, is eight hundred miles. 
April 8, 1898, was fought the battle of Atbara, a fort at the point where the 
Atbara River enters the Nile. Here Mahmud, the commander of the barba- 
rians, was captured and his army of twelve thousand infantry destroyed. 
Osman Higna got away with 4he greater part of the cavalry, numbering four 
thousand. 

The force was about a month reaching Wady Hamed, and, September 1, was 
in sight of Omdurman. The Sirdar's line was drawn up in crescent form, 
with Omdurman and Khartoum for its centre. In this position was fought 
the first battle of Egeda, in which twenty -two thousand of the Dervishes fell. 
The Khalifa and Osman Digna fled with a scant handful of followers, and are 
now said to be bandits in the Kordofan. The number of the annihilated army 
of the Mahdists will never be known. The British loss of whites was less 
than two hundred, and the native loss less than three hundred. The fire of 
the barbarians was generally too high to effect great injury. September 2 will 
be a marked day in England's calendar. The Sirdar marched into Khartoum, 
the Union Jack was raised, and beneath its floating crosses his chaplains 
performed Gordon's funeral ceremonies on the spot where he was slain nearly 
fourteen years before. 

The Boer War. — By the treaty of 1881 Great Britain claimed suzerainty 
over the South African (Transvaal) Republic and Orange Free State. These 
Republics claimed that by the treaty of 1884 Great Britain gave up her claim 
of suzerainty. Here arose an issue which was aggravated by the discovery of 
diamonds at Kimberley and of gold at Johannesburg, followed by the Jame- 
son raid, which, shorn of its disguise, was notice to the Boers that Great Britain 
desired and designed to occupy and absorb their two Republics. The diplo- 
matic war went on for years between President Kruger, of the Transvaal, 



LEADING WARS OF THE CENTURY 419a 

and Mr. Chamberlain, Great Britain's Colonial Secretary. It culminated in 
an ultimatum on the part of Kruger, on October 9, 1899, which Chamberlain 
rejected. Both sides had. been preparing- for this, and on October 11, the out- 
break of the war, Great Britain had already an army of IT). 000 men in South 
Africa, while the Boers had mobilized an equal, if not superior, army of 
effectives. The Bpers immediately invaded Natal and Cape Colony, shutting 
up General White and ins army in Ladysmith, and Colonel Powell and his 
forces in Mafeking. Kimberley was also besieged. The initial battles were 
numerous, fierce, and generally favorable to the Boers. Great Britain's eyes 
were speedily opened to the gravity of the situation. She hurried large rein- 
forcements to the scene till her armies far outnumbered those of the Boers. 
Yet her best generals, as Buller at Tugela River, and Methuen, at Magersfon- 
tein, continued to meet with disastrous defeats. Lord Roberts; in connec- 
tion with General Kitchener, was sent, January 10, 1900, to supersede the 
blundering generals, and to organize a new campaign. It was seen that 
direct battle against the Boers was bound to end in defeat. So Roberts was 
provided with an overwhelming army, estimated at 225,000, and he at once 
entered upon a, war of strategy. His northward advance was general along 
his lines, thus keeping the Boers divided. He flanked them out of their 
strongholds. By February he had invaded the Orange Free State, and raised 
the siege of Kimberley. On February 27 he captured General Cronjeand his 
force of 4000 men, and on March 13 took possession of Bloemfontein, the 
Free State capital, whence he issued a proclamation annexing the republic 
under the name of Orange River Colony. On February 28 the siege of Lady- 
smith was raised, and shortly after that of Mafeking. The Boers continued to 
fight doggedly, all the Avhile inflicting heavy losses on their enemy, but resist- 
ance was futile against such overwhelming odds. They were gradually forced 
from one position to another in the direction of Pretoria, the Transvaal capi- 
tal. On March 5 Presidents Kruger and Steyn joined in peace proposals, 
which were rejected. On March 12 they made an appeal to the nations for 
mediation. All refused to mediate. On March 27 the Boers lost their ablest 
general in the person of General Joubert, who died at Pretoria. By May 12 
Kroonstad. the second Free State eapi tab had fallen into Lord Roberts' hands. 
The Vaal Liver was then crossed and the Transvaal invaded. On May 31 
the British army entered the important town of Johannesburg, and hastened 
toward Pretoria, which was captured on June 5, 1900. President Kruger and 
General Botha had left a few days before, the former in the direction of the 
Portuguese port of Lorenzo Marques, the latter with the remnant of the Boer 
army to the mountains beyond Pretoria. On September 3 Lord Roberts de- 
clared the Transvaal annexed to Great Britain under the name of the Vaal 
River Colony. Generals Botha and De Wet continued a guerrilla warfare 
far past the end of the century. President Kruger accepted the protection of 
Holland, and sailed thither on October 20. 1900. Lord Roberts arrived in 
England in December, 1900, to receive his honors. At the turn of the cen- 
tury the South African problem was a most wearying one for Great Britain. 

The Boxeb Uprising. — The defeat of China by Japan in 1891, the ambi- 
tion of European powers to occupy her ports and enlarge their "spheres of 
influence.''' the ominous threats to partition her territory, soured the Manchu 



419& LEADING WARS OF THE CENTURY 

dynasty and the people of northern China against foreigners. The Empress 
Dowager deposed the young Emperor, seized the reins of government, and 
catered to that reactionary and hostile spirit which culminated in the 
" Boxer " uprising. These mobs began the destruction of missions, the mur- 
der and expulsion of missionaries, and concerted attack against everything 
that savored of foreign direction and influence. The Chinese regular soldiers 
were either helpless before them or in sympathy with them. By May, 1900, 
all the powers represented at Peking stood aghast at the startling fact that 
their respective legations were beleaguered in Peking, and liable to be mur- 
dered. Warships were instantly ordered to Taku. By June 1, 1900, twenty- 
three vessels had reported, — nine Russian, three British, three German, three" 
French, two American, two Japanese, one Italian. A force of 2000 soldiers 
was landed from these, and immediately started for Peking, under com- 
mand of the British Rear-Admiral Seymour, for the rescue of the legations. 
This force was defeated by the "Boxers," and compelled to retreat to Tien- 
Tsin with heavy loss. An attempt to torpedo the Taku harbor was resented 
by the warships. They bombarded and blew up the Taku forts. In this 
action the American warships did not participate. The "Boxers" swarmed 
in Tien-Tsin, and an allied force of 4000 men was sent thither to capture it. 
In their first attack, on July 9, they Avere repulsed with heavy loss. Being- 
reinforced up to 7000 men, their second attack, on July 13, was successful. 
The city was taken, and made the base of further operations against Peking, 
80 miles up the Pei-ho. The allies were further reinforced, and started for 
Peking with an army of 10,000 men. They met the Chinese army of 30,000 
men at Pei-Tsang, and after a severe battle on August 5, drove them from 
their fortifications with great loss. The Chinese rallied at Yang-Tsun, but 
were again defeated by the allies on August 0. They offered no further seri- 
ous resistance to the allies, who moved swiftly on Pekin, invested.it, and, on 
August 14, breached its walls and entered it in triumph. The legations were 
relieved after an imprisonment of nearly three months. Two ministers, one 
of Japan, the other of Germany, had been murdered. The others had escaped 
death only by concentrating and defending themselves in the English com- 
pound. The allied forces occupied the city for a time, and then those of 
Russia and the United States withdrew, leaving a strong legation guard. 
The Chinese government appointed L-i-Hung-Chang and Prince Ching minis- 
ters to meet ministers of the powers to arrange terms of settlement. After 
months of conference a protocol was signed in January, 1901, which was sup- 
posed to contain the germs of future settlement. But there was tha£ in the . 
Chinese situation which was bound to tax the diplomacy of the world during 
many years of the twentieth century. 

A Review of Martial Results. — The history of the world shows that 
successful war adds to the glory and prestige of the victorious nation, and 
this is particularly exemplified by the wars of the nineteenth century. 
Prance, so long victorious, dazzled the world. At Waterloo, her glory was 
clouded. Napier, in his closing words of the history of these events of the 
twenty years of war and turmoil, showed how thoroughly the English people 
appreciated that their greatness and power were due to the glory achieved 
by the arms of Britain's chivalrous sons. 



420 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

While England was covering herself with glory, her offspring, the United 
States, was teaching her, in the Avar of 1812, that being now of age his 
pockets were not again to be turned inside out, a lesson which thereafter she 
heeded. 

Greece, throbbing with the impulse of freedom, achieved her independence, 
displaying all the heroism of her Hellenic ancestry. 

The Mexican war added greatly to the glory of American arms and resulted 
in the acquisition of a vast territory, whose inhabitants quickly assimilated 
themselves to the requirements of American citizenship. 

The Revolution of '48 but served to consolidate the power of Prussia, laying 
the foundation for the Imperial crown to rest upon the head of her king, while 
fitting France for her future solid republican career. 

The Crimean war, except that it checked the policy of Russia, produced few 
results in comparison with the vast amount of blood and treasure so lavishly 
spent. 

The victories of Magenta and Solferino illumined again the eagles of 
France. The " Seven Weeks' War." while still further consolidating Ger- 
many under Prussia, was not without its blessings for Austria, and advanced 
" Young Italy " greatly toward the goal of her ambition. 

In America, the appeal to arms was made to decide the questions mooted 
since the nation's birth. One effect of this war was to show the wonderful 
prowess and soldierly qualities of the American citizen. 

The Franco-Prussian war lifted the dignity of Hohenzollern to its height, 
ended forever the Empire of France in a crushing fall, and taught the lesson 
of scientific preparation for war, than which no science is more worthy of 
intense study and application in all its branches. 

The Chino-Japanese war was a triumph of a growing civilization over semi- 
barbarism, and foreshadows the prominent role that Japan may be called 
upon to play in the twentieth century. The enlargement of her territory 
was a fitting reward for her unselfish championing of her weaker sister, 
Korea. 

The Greco-Cretan-Turkish war shed no glory on the Turkish nor on the so- 
called Christian nations, and will stand on history's page as a crowning shame 
to European civilization. 

The opening of Africa by General Kitchener and his great achievements 
read like old-time stories, and the twentieth century may see great results in 
Africa from this wonderful campaign. 

The war of the United States with Spain, fought because it was impossible 
longer to allow the atrocities of her rule on this hemisphere at our very doors, 
has brought conditions not dreamed of, and which, under the providence of 
God, may lead to greater results in the development of Christian civilization 
than we now may comprehend. 

The Boer war had little instigation on the part of Great Britain, except 
greed. Its management reflected no credit on her military genius, weakened 
her in the eyes of nations, and entailed a loss of life and rnoney from which 
she will not recover in generations. 

The Chinese disturbance did not rise to the dignity of war, but opened 
problems of startling intricacy and moment for all the powers. 



THE CENTURY'S FAIRS AND EXPOSITIONS 

By GEORGE J. HAGAR, 

Editor of Appendix to Encyclopaedia Britannica. 

Dr. Alfred Russell Wallace, in a recent work, argues that the nine- 
teenth century is altogether unique in that it inaugurated a new era. To 
grasp its marvelous achievements, he tells us, it should be compared with a 
long historical period, rather than with another century, however happily se- 
lected. The progress it environs is set down as almost wholly material and 
intellectual, and the palm for completeness is given to the material. Debat- 
able as his conclusion may be, there can be no dispute either as to the quali- 
tative or quantitative progress in the material advancement of mankind in 
the century now closing. In the present retrospect the broader view be- 
comes apparent, — that the material and the intellectual have been allied 
forces that have constantly pushed forward side by side, one devising in 
the solitude that genius needs for expansion, the other showing to the 
world the realizations of thought that in practical application benefit all. 

The evolution of the international exposition of to-day is a conspicuous result 
of this material and intellectual wedlock. It seems a long time between the 
fair that was held to allow people not closely settled to purchase the ordi- 
nary commodities of life, food, clothing, and household belongings, and the 
great expositions to which the nations of the world bring the surpassing 
embodiments of native thought. Measured by years, the time is really be- 
yond computation ; but measured by results, mere time is annihilated, and 
the progress that the evolution illustrates is found to have kept a steady 
pace with man's physical necessities and intellectual growth. The moment 
Necessity has shown that mankind needed something to make life brighter, 
happier, or more comfortable to pass through, Intellect has undertaken the 
task of creating it and has fashioned out the Material. 

In the great expositions of to-day are seen the effects of the marvelous 
influence which sprang from the fair as a market, instituted so long ago 
that no call for the records is answerable. Of this kind, only a very few 
remain. Then came the fair designed to promote the useful arts and manu- 
factures ; the fair to advance agriculture and allied industries ; and the 
fair to show special articles, to commemorate historical events, and to aid 
interests of large public concern. Under an ever-increasing expansion, 
stimulated by popular favor, the fair, with the commercial feature aban- 
doned or having it only as a restricted branch, became the exhibition to 
show a larger development of the arts, sciences, and mechanical trades ; to 
celebrate great public occurrences on a grander scale than earlier fairs had 
done ; to promote special industries, local or national ; to aid education by 
permanent displays of natural or manufactured products; and to promote 
the commercial intercourse of the world. From the first of this class of 
exhibitions came the international undertakings, first known as world's 
fairs, and afterward as international exhibitions and expositions. In some 



422 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 

one of these classes may be found every kind of a display of products, irre- 
spective of its purpose or individual name. 

The development of the modern exhibition from the early fair has been 
confined to no one country nor people. Everywhere the purpose and process 
have been the same. A few years changed the old-time mart, where people 
went to buy what they knew they would find, to the convenient place where 
tradesmen placed on view the things they knew people would need and 
buy, as well as articles offered at a venture that people who really didn't 
need them might be tempted to purchase because of novelty or other quality. 
Thus, the bargain counter and the department store are several hundred 
years older than the thrifty housewife of to-day reckons. 

Trade competition, then as now, led to a broadening of plans, rival efforts, 
and special attractions. People began to attend fairs to see what was new, as 
well as to buy ; and soon, lest they should tire of sightseeing, it became neces- 
sary to provide means for entertaining them. Punch and Judy came on the 
scene with perennial popularity. Jugglery astounded the young and fasci- 
nated their elders. Dancing and wrestling rings proved sportive magnets of 
annually increasing strength. The fair now began to change from a strictly 
commercial undertaking to an occasion for holiday hilarity, and soon trade 
and amusement were struggling for the mastery. In many places, hilarity 
led to excesses, and excesses to crime. Public opinion demanded the forceful 
intervention of the law, and one by one the most demoralizing fairs were sup- 
pressed, the notorious Donnybrook closing its long career of debauchery and 
fighting in 1855. 

The display of merchandise and the gathering of customers at the most 
noted fairs in time became really enormous, anil for many years the great 
fairs of the day were held on open and extensive plains. Then, too, the fair 
assumed an importance that led first the local authorities, and after them 
higher dignitaries, to seek to turn it to their individual advantage. For a 
time no fair could be held in Great Britain without a special giant from 
the crown, and it was a widely observed custom for royal or ecclesiastical 
authorities to give permission to a town or village that had suffered some 
misfortune to hold a fair as a means of reestablishing itself. The famous 
fair of St. Giles's Hill, near .Manchester, England, was instituted as a revenue 
to the bishop \>y William the Conqueror. That it was a valuable monopoly 
is shown by the facts that its jurisdiction extended seven miles around the 
city, and that all merchants who sold wares within that circuit, unless at 
the fair, forfeited them to the bishop. 

A curious evidence of early international interest in the fair, as well as of its 
importance and influence, is found in the records of 1314, when King Philip 
of France sent a formal complaint to King Edward II. of England, to the 
effect that the merchants of England had ceased frequenting the fairs in 
his dominions with their wood and other goods, to the great loss of his 
subjects. Philip entreated Edward to persuade, and, if necessary, to com- 
pel, English people to frequent the fairs of France as formerly, promising 
them all possible security and encouragement. 

As a purely commercial institution, the fair had its best day when people 
were widely separated. The" increase of population, the development of 
new life and activity by growing communities, the opening of means of travel 



THE CENTURY'S FAIRS AND EXPOSITIONS 



423 



between distant points, and the establishment of stores and markets, were all 
fatal to the commercial fair. To-day, in all Europe, only three really great 
annual fairs of this character remain, — those of Nijni-Novgorod, in liussia; 
Beaucaire, in France ; and Leipsic, in Germany. The same conditions that 
brought the popular usefulness of the commercial fair to an end were the 
forces from which the fair as an exponent of industrial achievement has 
been developed, and the material progress of the nineteenth century is to be 
traced. 

For the modern fair in all of its forms the world is indebted to the Society 
of Arts, of London, an organization whose fame in America was so great that 
Benjamin Franklin, in soliciting corresponding membership, declared that he 




MUNICH EXPOSITION, 1854. 

would esteem it a great honor to be admitted and also to be permitted to con- 
tribute twenty guineas to be expended in premiums. "What this Society in 
its early days did for Great Britain it did also for civilization. It organized 
the first exhibition of specimens of improvements in the useful arts and man- 
ufactures in 1760 ; stimulated native ingenuity by judicious awards of prizes 
and premiums for exhibits of exceptional merit ; and extended its powerful 
influence to foster art, science, mechanical and agricultural industry, and the 
fishery trade and colonial commerce of the country. 

Of the many influences of this Society that came to the United. States, it 
may be questioned if any had a more lasting benefit for both people and 
country than that which gave birth to the mechanics' institutes. There are 
people still living who are able to recall how the large cities in the Eastern 
and Middle States vied with each other in the establishment of two great and 



424 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 

kindred institutions — the mechanics' institute and the apprentices' library. 
Philadelphia led the cities in the matter of time, her Franklin Institute being 
founded in 1824. Four years afterward the American Institute was chartered 
in New York City. After these came the Massachusetts Charitable Me- 
chanics' Association in Boston, the Maryland Institute in Baltimore, and 
numerous others. — those mentioned being the principal ones that still main- 
tain annual or other exhibitions. At first, the exhibitions of these institutes, 
like the first one ever held under the patronage of a national government, — 
that in Paris in 1798, — were composed of various articles loaned by their 
owners. Soon, however, the popularity of the institutes and the awarding of 
prizes and diplomas brought to the exhibitions specimens of the handicraft of 
members and friends, and the rising lights in the arts and manufactures 
became eager to secure the recognition of their genius that such awards estab- 
lished. Thus, the influence of the principal surviving institutes has spread 
far beyond local limits. 

Purely national exhibitions have never found much popular favor in the 
United States. When as a whole people we decide to hold one for a purpose 
of general interest, we prefer to set a large table and invite the universe to 
help us celebrate. In France, the first national exhibition was a loan exhibi- 
tion. Its effect, however, was so immediate that the government* repeated it 
the same year, organized more elaborate one's in 1801 and 1802, and decided 
-to hold them triennially thereafter — a course that has since been interrupted 
by political exigencies. These exhibitions were projected to illustrate the 
progress of France only. In the United States there have been no State 
exhibitions, excepting agricultural fairs, for which outside cooperation has 
not been invited. 

The life of the American agricultural fair is almost measurable by the full 
century. This, too, had its origin in England. The father of the American 
system of combined agricultural fairs and cattle shows was Elkanah Watson, 
a native of Plymouth, Mass., who spent the greater part of his life in promot- 
ing large public measures besides agriculture and education. In 1807 he re- 
moved from Albany, N. Y., to Pittsfield, Mass., where he engaged in general 
and experimental agriculture and cattle-raising. His efforts to improve local 
farming conditions and to raise a superior breed of cattle attracted widespread 
interest, and this suggested to him that an annual exhibition of cattle and of 
farm products, resulting from a more painstaking system of cultivation than 
was commonly followed, would prove of material advantage to the farmer, the 
breeder, and the general public. Accordingly, he induced his farming friends 
in the country to contribute specimens of improved breeds of cattle and of 
superior products of the soil ; and the first exhibition or fair was held in 
1810. This, with modest prizes for the best exhibits, proved a complete 
success. 

Encouraged by the results of his initial efforts, he went to Boston to solicit 
pecuniary aid for a second and much larger exhibition. Although he was at 
that time widely known for his public-spirited philanthropy, and also as the 
founder of the influential Berkshire Agricultural Society, his appeals for aid 
brought him little save derision. To show how small concern was felt by 
business and public men toward the farming industry, a sentence in a letter 
from ex-President John Adams to Mr. Watson is sufficient : — 



426 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 

" You will get no aid from Boston ; commerce, literature, theology, medicine, the university, and 
universal politics are against you." 

The ex-President was correct in his judgment. Mr. Watson did not receive a 
single favorable response to his appeals ; yet he lost not a particle of faith in 
the wisdom of his undertaking. With the cooperation only of the farmers in 
his county, Mr. Watson succeeded in arranging annual exhibitions until 1816, 
when he returned to Albany. The same year he organized the first agricul- 
tural society in the State of New York, and began establishing fairs and cattle 
shows in the near-by counties. In 1819 lie secured the passage of an Act by 
the Legislature appropriating $ 10,000 annually for six years for the promo- 
tion of agriculture and domestic manufactures, conditional on a like amount 
being raised by the agricultural societies in the different counties. A State 
Society was incorporated in 1832, to which county societies were directed to 
report, while it, in turn, had to render a combined report to the Legislature 
annually. 

Since then an agricultural department lias become an indispensable part 
of the government of the various States and Territories, even of those that 
are popularly believed to be only metallic producers. The character of the 
state and county agricultural fair has been undergoing a radical change for 
many years, especially in sections thickly settled or near large cities, and the 
chief attractions have passed from the exhibition of sleek domestic animals 
and choice fruits of the soil to horse-racing and bicycle contests. Innovations 
foreign to the spirit and intention of the fair have already wrought its ruin 
in many places and are threatening it generally. 

Of American fairs in the original commercial sense, those held during the 
Civil War, to aid the work of the United States Sanitary Commission on the 
battlefield and in the camp and hospital, will always be historically conspicu- 
ous. During those memorable four years it is doubtful if there was a single 
city, town, or village in the Northern States that did not put forth a special 
effort to provide necessities and conveniences for the soldiers and sailors that 
were not supplied by the government, and the fair was the most popular form 
of raising the needful money. 

Exhibitions of special articles, possessing the features of state, national, 
and international combinations, and independent of any locality, event, or 
period of time, are growing in frequency. Many of these have a predomi- 
nating technical interest, — as the international exhibitions of fisheries and 
fishery methods, of life-saving methods and apparatus, of forestry products 
and systems of forest preservation, and of railway appliances ; while others 
combine the technical and popular features, as the exhibitions of electrical 
apparatus, of improved food preparations, of bicycles, of automobile vehicles, 
and of wood-working and labor-saving machinery. 

Special exhibitions in the United States that possess a large popular inter- 
est include the annual showing of the art associations and leagues in the 
principal cities, and the annual horse, dog, and sportsmen's shows in New 
York city. Among them also are to be noted the permanent expositions in 
Philadelphia and Chicago — both reminders of the greatest international 
expositions that had been held up to their day. The Philadelphia exposition 
is held in Memorial Hall, the building erected in Fairmount Park by the State 
of Pennsylvania at a cost of $ 1,500,000, and used for the Art Gallery of the 



THE CENTURY'S FAIRS AND EXPOSITIONS 



427 



Centennial Exposition in 1876. It now contains an art and industrial collec- 
tion similar to the famous South Kensington Museum in London. The Chi- 
cago exposition is in the former Art Palace of the World's Columbian Expo- 
sition in 1893, and, having been endowed by Marshall Field with $1,000,000, 
is now known as the Field Columbian Museum. Its most conspicuous feature 
is a collection showing the development of the railway, and the next, its for- 




EIPFEL TOWER. PARIS EXPOSITION, 1888. 



■estry exhibits. In the line of permanent expositions, Philadelphia is to be 
credited with two commercial museums of far-reaching influence that will be 
considered further on. 

The first exhibition of the industries of all nations was that held in Hyde 
Park, London, in 1851. It was an outgrowth of the annual exhibitions of 
the Society of Arts, before mentioned, and was at first designed to be only a 
national enterprise, but on a more extended scale than the former exhibitions 



428 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

of the Society. The late Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, however, 
conceived the idea of throwing this particular exhibition open to the indus- 
try of the world. His suggestion at once met the favor of the Council of 
the Society, as well as of the leading manufacturers of England and the 
general public. A royal warrant was procured appointing a commission to 
" manage an exhibition of the works of industry of all nations," and of this 
body Prince Albert became president. 

On February 21, 1850, the commissioners felt justified in making a public 
announcement that the building would cover an area of from sixteen to- 
twenty acres ; that it would be ready for the reception of goods by January 
1, 1851 ; and that the exhibition would be opened to the public on May 1, 
following. The plans for a building submitted by Sir Joseph Paxton were 
accepted after a large number had been considered. They called for a vast 
structure of iron and glass, somewhat similar to the great conservatory he 
had erected for the Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth. A contract was 
signed with Messrs. Fox and Henderson for the construction of the building, 
under which they were to receive £79,800, and the materials of the building- 
were to remain their property. On February 3, the completed structure was 
formally delivered to the commissioners. It had an extreme length of 1851 
feet and an extreme breadth of 408 feet, with an additional projection on the 
north side, 936 feet long by 48 feet wide. 

"While the erection of the building was in progress, Dr. Lyon Playfair was 
chosen to decide and classify the wide range of articles that was sought to be 
brought together under the general title of " Objects of Industrial and Pro- 
ductive Art." He arranged these under four great sections : Raw Materials, 
Machinery, Manufactures, and Fine Arts, and they in turn were divided and 
subdivided into a vast number of classes and smaller divisions. The col- 
lecting of national exhibits was placed in the hands of district committees 
in all the principal towns and manufacturing localities, and in response to 
invitations extended to all the British colonies and the various foreign 
governments, nearly every country in Europe, almost every State in the 
North American Union, the South American republics, India, Egypt, Persia, 
and the far-off islands of the seas, sent objects that swelled the total esti- 
mated value of exhibits — excluding the renowned Koh-i-noor diamond — to 
£1,781,929. 

The exhibition was opened by Queen Victoria on the appointed day, and 
was continued till October 11. The total number of exhibitors was about 
15,000. During the 114 days the exhibition was open a total of 6,063,986 
persons visited it, a daily average of 42,111. The largest number in a single 
day was on Tuesday of the closing week, 109,915. An attempt to ascertain 
the number of foreign visitors developed the unexpected result that not much 
more than 40,000 foreigners visited London beyond the annual average of 
15,000. The financial result of the exhibition was really remarkable. The 
total receipts from all sources amounted to £506,000, and the total expendi- 
tures to about £330,000, leaving a surplus of £176,000, which was subse- 
quently increased to £186.436. 

The distinctions of all kinds that were awarded, Council and prize medals 
and "honourable mentions," aggregated 5084. It is here interesting to note, 
as showing the truly international character of the first world's exhibition, 



THE CENTURY'S FAIRS AND EXPOSITIONS 



429 



that foreign guests occupied two-fifths of the exhibition space and received 
three-fifths of the honors. British exhibitors of machinery, manufactures in 
metal, and manufactures in glass and porcelain, took more prizes than all 
the foreigners combined. Foreigners led in the number of prizes for textile 
fabrics, fine arts, and miscellaneous manufactures ; and in the section of raw 
materials for food and manufactures the foreign exhibitors gained nearly four 
times as many prizes as the British. 

This exhibition developed a number of features that should be borne in 
mind when considering those that came after it. It was an experiment in an 




COURT OF HONOR FROM PERISTYLE. 

(World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893.) 



untried field ; it was comprised in a single building ; and it was self-support- 
ing. In all respects it was a marvelous achievement. It made the late 
Prince Consort the "father," and the Society of Arts the pioneer promoters, 
of the international exposition. 

The beneficial influence of the first world's exhibition began to be felt 
immediately. An exhibition of the arts and manufactures of Ireland was 
held in Cork in the following year, and the Boyal Dublin Society, which had 
been holding similar exhibitions triennially, got up a much larger one than 
usual, through the generous pecuniary aid of William Dargan, in 1853. The 
Dublin exhibition, unlike that of Cork, was international in scope. 

American visitors to the London exhibition brought home with them a 
pretty large inspiration for a similar effort, and before the close of 1851 a 



430 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

number of citizens of New York had associated themselves for that purpose. 
In January, 1852, the corporation of the city of New York granted a lease 
for five years of Reservoir Square, on the conditions that a building of iron, 
glass, and wood should be erected thereon, and that the entrance fee to the 
proposed exhibition should not exceed fifty cents. In March, the Legisla- 
ture incorporated the Association for the Exhibition of the Industries of all 
Nations, with a capital of $200,000 that might be increased to $300,000. 
Subsequently, the Federal Government constituted the building a bonded 
warehouse and exempted foreign exhibits from the payment of duties. 

This exhibition was therefore a private enterprise, having no other official 
recognition than that mentioned. It was also an unfortunate affair from 
beginning to end. The location was then three or four miles from the heart 
of the city ; the area was entirely inadequate for the purpose ; the day of 
opening had to be postponed, because of the incomplete condition of the 
building ; and financially the enterprise was a huge failure. 

The exhibition was opened July 14. 1853, with much ceremony, although 
still scarcely half ready for exhibits or visitors, and was continued for 119 
days. There were about 4800 exhibitors, somewhat more than one-half 
being foreign. The total cost of the exhibition was nearly $1,000,000, and 
the receipts were $340,000. Although a financial failure and a disappoint- 
ment in many ways, this first international exhibition in the United States 
was productive of much good. 

The success of the London exhibition also aroused the French to depart 
from the exclusively national character of their former exhibitions and to 
inaugurate one open to the world. This was done under the direct auspices 
of the Imperial Government, which undertook to combine certain features of 
both the London and the New York enterprises ; hence, the first interna- 
tional exhibition held in Paris was practically a private scheme supported 
by official guarantees. A further departure was here made in the matter of 
building, and, instead of the single great structure, there were the Palais de 
lTndustrie, the Palais des Beaux Arts, the Panorama, and three smaller 
buildings for agricultural implements, carriages, and a variety of less costly 
articles. Another innovation was here introduced, a partial return to the 
methods of the commercial fair, in the setting apart of exhibiting spaces on 
the open ground. 

The main building, the Palais de lTndustrie, was erected by a joint-stock 
company on the Champs Elysees, and provided a floor space of 1,770,000 
square feet. It was built of glass, stone, and brick, and was 800 feet long 
by 350 feet wide. The various buildings cost about $ 5,000,000, and the 
Palais de lTndustrie was erected for a permanent structure. 

This exhibition was opened on May 15, 1855, and closed on November 15, 
following. It was visited by 4.533.404 persons. Besides France and her 
colonies, fifty-three foreign states and twenty-two colonies belonging to them 
sent exhibits. In all there were 20,839 exhibitors, those of France and her 
colonies predominating by only about 500. The exhibits were classified on 
the London plan, there being in each case thirty classes altogether. Exclud- 
ing the main building, which the Imperial Government acquired, the exhibi- 
tion cost about $2,250,000. 

Between the first and second London exhibitions there were many indus- 



THE CENTURY'S FAIRS AND EXPOSITIONS 



431 



trial and art displays in the United Kingdom and colonies and on the Conti- 
nent, among which should be noted those of New Brunswick and Madras in 
1853, Munich in 1854, and Edinburgh and Manchester in 1857. 

The second London exhibition was undertaken by a commission headed, 
as the first, by the Prince . Consort, under a guarantee fund of $2,250,000. 
While it was in course of preparation the Prince Consort died, and for a 
while a heavy pall hung over the scheme. The commission here introduced 
the French idea of separate buildings. The site was at South Kensington, 
and the main structure was built of brick, glass, and iron, was nearly rectan- 
gular in shape, and covered an area of about seven acres. With the annexes 
the total area under roof was about twenty-three acres. 

This exhibition was opened by the Duke of Cambridge on May 1, 1862, 
and remained open for 177 days. It was visited by 6,211,103 persons, a daily 
average of 36,329, its receipts were wholly absorbed by expenses, and a slight 




woman's building. 
(World's Columbian Exposition. 1893.) 



deficit was left. Foreign exhibitors numbered 17,861, and received more than 
9000 prizes. 

In 1863 the French Government announced that an exhibition would be 
held in Paris in 1867, that was intended to be more completely universal in 
character and more comprehensive in plan than any that had ever been held. 
The Champ de Mars, the great parade-ground on which the Ecole Militaire 
faced, containing about 111 acres, was placed at the disposal of the commis- 
sioners by the Government. In the centre of this space was erected the 
principal building, an oval structure mainly of iron, 1607 feet long and 1246 
feet wide, that cost $2,357,000. 

In planning this building the convenience of exhibitors and visitors in 
ready access to the exhibits of any desired country or class was given the 
preference over architectural effect. Here, again, was a diffusion of exhibits 
in detached buildings, and a noteworthy novelty was the reservation of 
ground on the park surrounding the main building for the erection by for- 
eign exhibitors of special buildings for the display of articles that could not 
be accommodated in the main structure. This feature became the most pop- 
28 



432 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

ular one of the entire exhibition, for it gave a most graphic illustration of 
the architecture, manners, customs, and countless peculiarities of the peoples 
of the world. 

The exhibition was opened by the Emperor on April 1, 1867, and was 
closed on October 31. following. The number of visitors was upward of 
15,000,000, a daily average of nearly 70,000, and of exhibitors, 51,819. In 
all, 12,944 medals and grand prizes of honorable mention were awarded. 
From beginning to end the expenses were $ 4,596,764, and the receipts ag- 
gregated $2,822,000. The national and municipal governments contributed 
$1,200,000 each, which added to the receipts of the exhibition proper created 
a surplus over expenditure of $626,000. 

London's third exhibition, from May 1 till September 30, 1871, was pro- 
jected as the first of an annual series that should separately promote a 
distinct branch of industrial effort. Thirty - three foreign countries were 
represented ; there were approximately 4000 art and 7000 industrial exhibi- 
tors ; and the visitors numbered 1,142,000. The second in the series, in 1872, 
was confined to printing, paper, music, musical instruments, jewelry, cotton 
goods, and fine arts ; and the third, in 1873, was devoted to the general sub- 
ject of cookery. 

Great as was the universal exposition of Paris in 1867, that at Vienna in 
1873 far surpassed it in extent and grandeur, although its pecuniary success 
was severely affected by an epidemic of cholera, a financial crisis, and local 
extortions. As each of the preceding international exhibitions had devel- 
oped a distinctive feature, so this of Vienna introduced the custom of holding 
world's congresses for the discussion of great problems of universal applica- 
tion. 

The exhibition was opened on May 1 and closed on November 3, following. 
Turnstiles recorded the entrance of 7,254,687 visitors. There were about 
70,000 exhibitors, whose display, in extent and costliness, exceeded that of 
Paris in 1867. The gross receipts were about $2,000,000, and expenditures 
about $9,850,000, making a deficiency of some $7,850,000, which the Govern- 
ment liquidated. The United States was represented by 643 exhibitors, more 
than half of whom were awarded prizes. 

This brings the record up to the Centennial Exposition, at Philadelphia, 
in 1876, and covers the third quarter of the century. The a.ctual work of 
making the Centennial Exhibition began on March 3, 1871, when Congress 
passed an Act creating the United States Centennial Commission. This au- 
thorized the President to appoint a -commissioner and an alternate from each 
State and Territory, on the nomination of the respective governor's. The 
appointments were promptly made, and from the whole body of commis- 
sioners the following were chosen for the principal executive officers : Presi- 
dent, Joseph R. Hawley, of Connecticut ; Vice-Presidents, Alfred T. Goshorn, 
of Ohio, Orestes Cleveland, of New Jersey, John D. Creigh, of California, 
Robert Lowry, of Iowa, and Robert Mallory, of Kentucky ; Director-General, 
Alfred T. Goshorn ; Secretary, John L. Campbell, of Indiana ; Assistant Sec- 
retary, Dorsey Gardner ; Counselor and Solicitor, John L. Shoemaker. 

Details of organization and management were vested in an Executive Com- 
mittee. On June 1, 1872, Congress passed an Act creating the Centennial 
Board of Finance, with large powers. This Board estimated that the cost of 



THE CENTURY'S FAIRS AND EXPOSITIONS 



433 



the exhibition would be $10,000,000, and apportioned shares of capital stock 
for this amount among the several States and Territories, on the basis of 
population. Subsequently, a Board of Revenue was appointed and vested 
with authority to collect subscriptions and other funds. 

Despite the financial panic of the summer of 1873, preparations progressed 
so favorably that on July 3 President Grant issued a proclamation reciting 
that the one-hundredth anniversary of the independence of the United States 
would be celebrated by holding an international exhibition of arts, manufac- 
tures, and the products of the soil and mine, in Philadelphia, in 1876, open- 
ing April 19 and closing October 19, and inviting the nations of the world 
to take part in both the celebration and the exhibition. In response to a 
formal invitation issued by the Secretary of State, thirty-two foreign govern- 
ments sent favorable replies for themselves and their colonies. 

The city of Philadelphia placed at the disposal of the commissioners a 




vB§7v 



AGRICUI/TUUAL BUILDTNG. 

(Atlanta Exposition, 1895.) 



tract in Fairmount Park, aggregating 236 acres, for the principal buildings, 
and also made proportionately large allotments for the exhibition of live- 
stock and agricultural implements. 

Five principal buildings were erected. The Main Exhibition Building was 
in the form of a parallelogram, 1880 feet long and 464 feet wide, with pro- 
jections at the centre of the longest sides 416 feet long, and at the centre of 
the short ones 216 feet long. The building was erected on piers of masonry, 
wrought-iron columns supporting wrought-iron roof trusses forming the super- 
structure, the sides of which for some distance above the ground were finished 
between the columns with paneled brick work. This building covered 21.47 
acres, had a floor space of 936,008 square feet, and cost $1,600,000. 

The Art Gallery and Memorial Hall, designed to be a permanent struc- 
ture, was erected on an eminence in the Lansdowne Plateau. It is built of 
granite, glass, and iron, in the modern Renaissance style of architecture, on a 
terrace several feet above the level of the Plateau, and cost $1,500,000. The 
dimensions are : length, 365 feet ; width, 210 feet ; height, 59 feet. From 
the centre of the structure rises a dome of iron and glass, 150 feet in height, 



434 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

surmounted by a figure of Columbia with outstretched hands. This building 
was erected by the State of Pennsylvania, and is now used as a permanent 
art and industrial museum. 

Machinery Hall was 1402 feet long and 360 feet wide, with an annex on 
the south side 210 by 208 feet, and the main building and annex had together 
a floor space of 558,440 square feet, or nearly thirteen acres. The total cost 
was $792,000. Horticultural Hall, near the Art Gallery, was built by the 
city of Philadelphia for permanent uses. - It exhibits the Moorish architec- 
ture of the twelfth century, is 383 feet long by 193 feet wide, and is 72 feet 
high to the top of the lantern. Its cost was $251,937. The Agricultural 
Building was erected of wood and glass, the ground plan showing a parallelo- 




MACHINERY HALT,. 
(Atlanta Exposition, 1895.) 

gram 630 feet long by 465 feet wide, and a nave 826 feet long and 100 feet 
wide crossed by three transepts, and cost about $356,000. 

Other noteworthy edifices were the United States Government Building, 
504 feet long by 300 feet wide, prepared to exhibit the various functions of 
the public service ; the Women's Pavilion, covering an area of an acre, and 
with its exhibits of woman's handiwork from the fifteen leading nations of 
the world constituting the first display of the kind ever attempted on a 
large scale ; twenty-six buildings erected by State and Territorial govern- 
ments ; and many others put up by foreign governments or exhibitors. 
Before the exhibition closed there were more than two hundred buildings on 
the ground. 

An interesting feature of this exhibition was the observance of State Hays, 
when the governors of the States, with their official staffs and a large follow- 
ing of citizens, made ceremonial visits and held receptions in the several 
State buildings. There were also numerous other special days, when hosts 
of people united in a common interest, religious, fraternal, social, military, 
aquatic, or educational, added thousands to the ordinary attendance. 

During the exhibition 9,910,966 persons entered the grounds, of whom 
7,250,620 paid the full rate of fifty cents, 753,634 paid twenty-five cents 
each, and 1,906,692 had free entry. The exhibition represented an outlay 
of all kinds and by all interests of about $20,000,000. The United States 



THE CENTURY'S FAIRS AND EXPOSITIONS 



435 



Government aided it with a loan of $1,500,000, which was repaid; the 
State of Pennsylvania appropriated $1,000,000, and the city of Philadel- 
phia gave $1,500,000. From every point of view it was an unqualified 
success. 

Two years after the Centennial Exposition another one was held in Paris, 
which not only exceeded all previous ones in that city in size and magni- 
ficence, but made an unprecedented display of works of art and literature. 
On this occasion about one hundred acres were set apart for the various 
buildings, the exhibitors numbered some eighty thousand, the gross receipts 
were upward of $2,500,000, and 16,032,725 visitors were registered. 

The third world's exhibition in the United States was held in New ( )r- 
leans during the winter of 1884-85, and was planned to commemorate the 
centennial of the first export of cotton from America. The conception was 
an outgrowth of the exposition in Philadelphia, and was first carried out on 
a limited scale in. Atlanta in 1881, and on a larger one in Louisville in 1883. 
Under the belief that the cotton centennial should be celebrated in the chief 
city of the cotton belt, the National Cotton Planters' Association joined heart- 
ily in the scheme suggested by Major E. A. Burke, of New Orleans, for a 
universal exhibition in that city, in which the great industry of the Southern 
States should play the most prominent part. Congress aided the movement 




WOMAN 8 BUILDING. 

(Nashville Exposition, 1897.) 



by an Act incorporating the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Expo- 
sition, and, further, made a loan of $1,000,000 and appropriated $300,000 for 
a Federal Building. Bailroad and other corporations subscribed for $500,000 
in stock, the State of Louisiana appropriated $100,000, and the city of New 
Orleans contributed a similar sum for the erection of a permanent Horticul- 
tural Hall. 

Formal invitations were sent out to all foreign governments by the State 
Department at Washington, commissioners were appointed for the several 
States and Territories, and the time of the exposition was fixed for December 
1,1884, to May 31, 1885. The site selected was the Upper City Park, an 
unimproved tract of 245 acres, and in its centre was erected the Main Building, 
a structure built wholly of wood, 1378 feet long and 905 feet wide, and with 



436 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

a continuous roof principally of glass. The entire building covered a space 
of thirty-three acres. A Music Hall capable of seating 11,000 persons was 
constructed in the centre of this building, and a Machinery Hall in the rear. 
An extension at the southern end, 570 by 120 feet, was devoted to mills and 
factories in operation, and at right angles with this extension was a building 
given up to sawmills. 

The Federal Building, planned for the exhibits of the United States Govern- 
ment and of the States, was 885 feet long by 565 feet wide, and in general 
style and construction conformed to the Main Building. Horticultural Hall, 
built of iron and glass, is 600 feet long, 100 feet wide in main structure, and 
has a central transept carrying out the extreme width to 194 feet. The Art 
Building, of corrugated iron and glass, stood nearly in front of the Main 
Building, and was 250 long by 100 feet wide, with a rotunda 50 feet square in 
the centre. Two other noteworthy buildings were erected by the Mexican 
Government, one in the style of a native hacienda, with an interior gallery for 
the display of horticulture and bird-life ; the other for native minerals. Ex- 
cluding those of Mexico, the various buildings covered an area of 2,673,588 
square feet, or sixty-two acres, and all buildings covered about seventy-six 
acres. 

Among the special features of this exposition were the display of woman's 
work, under charge of Mrs. Julia Ward Howe ; of the work of the colored 
race, under charge of the late Blanche K. Bruce ; of the cultivation of cotton 
and manufacture of the fibre ; and of the cultivation, harvesting, and prepara- 
tion for market of rice and sugar. 

On May 5, 1889, another universal exposition was opened in Paris. This 
was also a commemorative one, marking the centennial of the French Bevo- 
lution, and because of its political character only the United States and 
Switzerland accorded it official recognition, although most of the European 
governments encouraged individual participation. The exposition, despite 
this feature, was a grand success because of its unusual extent and compre- 
hensiveness and its distinctive features. This exposition cost $8,600,000, and 
had about 60,000 exhibitors and more than 28,000,000 reported visitors, the 
greater number, of course, being French. 

The making of the World's Columbian Exposition, to commemorate the 
discovery of America by Columbus, began soon after the close of the Centen- 
nial Exposition in Philadelphia. It was at first proposed to create a perma- 
nent exposition, to be held in Washington in 1892, to illustrate the progress 
of North, Central, and South America, and a board of promotion was organ- 
ized. By 1889, however, a strong popular sentiment had been aroused for a 
more comprehensive display, and citizens of Washington, New York, Chicago, 
and St. Louis vied with each other in pressing on a special committee of the 
United States Senate the advantages of their respective cities. A certificate 
to the effect that subscriptions to the amount of $5,000,000 had been made in 
Chicago decided the controversy in favor of that city. 

On April 25, 1890, Congress passed an Act giving a legal status to a World's 
Columbian Exposition, to be held under the auspices and supervision of the 
United States Government, the organizing corporation to guarantee the sub- 
scription of $10,000,000 and the payment of $500,000 before the national 
commissioners should officially recognize the site offered by the corporation 



THE CENTURY'S FAIRS AND EXPOSITIONS 



437 



for the exposition. On December 24, following, President Harrison an- 
nounced the forthcoming exposition, to be opened on May 1, 1893, and invited 
the nations of the world to participate in it. Congress appropriated in 
various sums a total of $3,238,250 in money and authorized the coining of 
5,000,000 souvenir fifty-cent pieces in silver to be sold for the benefit of the 
exposition. 

The management was vested in a National Commission of two representa- 
tives of each State and Territory and of the District of Columbia, and eight 
from the country at large. The site was Jackson Park, on the shore of Lake 
Michigan, to which was added the Midway Plaisance tract of 80 acres, making 
an aggregate ground area of 633 acres. On the main ground more than 150 
noteworthy buildings were erected. The Midway Plaisance was devoted to 
amusements and the illustration of the manners and customs of the world. 




ART BUILDING. EXACT REPRODUCTION OP THE PARTHENON. 
(Nashville Exposition, 1897.) 



Here, the most conspicuous of a multitude of great and curious objects was 
the gigantic revolving and passenger-carrying Ferris Wheel. All of the ex- 
position buildings proper were constructed of wood, iron, and glass, in com- 
bination with a material known as "staff," made by uniting plaster and 
jute fibre in water, in the form of a paste. As all exterior surfaces were 
painted white, the exposition grounds became popularly known as the White 
City. 

The principal buildings, with their cost, were those of Manufactures and 
Liberal Arts, the largest of all, 1687 by 787 feet, $ 1,500,000 ; Machinery, 
|!1,285,000 ; Pine Arts, $670,000 ; Agriculture, $618,000 ; Administration, 
$435,000 ; Electricity, $401,000 ; United States Government, $400,000 ; Live 
Stock, $385,000 ; Transportation, $370,000 ; Horticulture, $300,000 ; Mines, 
$265,000; Fisheries, $224,000 ; Woman's, $138,000; Forestry, $100,000 ; and 
a brick imitation of a modern United States battleship, with complete arma- 
ment and equipment, $100,000. Foreign governments appropriated a total 
of $6,571,520 for their respective buildings and exhibits, France leading with 



438 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

•$650,000, and being followed by Japan, $630,000 ; Brazil, $600,000 ; Ger- 
many, $214,200 ; and Austria, $149,100 ; and the States and Territories, a 
total of $6,020,850. The entire cost of construction was $18,322,622. 

According to the original Act of Congress, the buildings then completed 
were dedicated on Columbus Day, October 21, 1892, with prayer, music, and 
an oration by Chauncey M. Depew, and during that week a number of State 
buildings were also dedicated. The exposition was formally opened with 
exceedingly brilliant ceremonies on May 1, 1893, and was closed with an 
entire lack of formality on October 30, following, in consequence of the 
assassination of Carter Harrison, mayor of Chicago, two days before. Up 
to November 12, the receipts from all sources aggregated $33,290,065, and 
the expenditures, $31,117,353. The total number of paid admissions, ex- 
cluding those prior to the opening and after the closing, was 21,477,218, 
and of all, 27, 529, 400 ; smallest single-day number, 10,791 ; largest, on 
" Chicago Day," 729.203. In all there were 65,422 exhibitors, and medals 
were awarded to 23,757 of them, the jury examining and reporting on more 
than 250,000 separate exhibits. 

Present space will only permit the briefest summarizing of this greatest of 
all international expositions hitherto held, — matchless in extent, in complete- 
ness of composition, in grandeur of setting. A pleasing evidence of the influ- 
ence the undertaking was expected to yield is found in the remarkably large 
number of international congresses that were, held during its progress. This 
feature alone called for 1245 separate sessions, at which there were 5974 
speakers and a special attendance of more than 700,000 persons, chiefly 
adults. Almost every conceivable branch of human thought and effort had. 
its individual congress. Particularly noticeable among these formal gather- 
ings was the Parliament of Religions, in which Christian, Protestant, 
Catholic, Jew, and Buddhist expounded their doctrinal beliefs and narrated 
the story of their sectarian progress and hopes. 

The Cotton States' and International Exposition, opened in Atlanta on Sep- 
tember 18, 1895, had its origin in two purposes : the first, to give the indus- 
trial conditions of the Southern States a more adequate display than they 
had at Chicago, owing to the constitutional inability of their Legislatures to 
appropriate public money for such a purpose ; the second, to promote larger 
trade relations between the South and the Latin-American republics and with 
Europe. It was set on foot by private enterprise, and received its largest 
official aid from the city council of Atlanta, which appropriated $75,000. 

Piedmont Park, a tract of 189 acres, two miles from the centre of the city,. 
and memorable because traversed by the rifle-pits over which General Sher- 
man threw shells into the city thirty-one years before, was selected as the 
site. In a natural dip of the ground an artificial lake was constructed, cover- 
ing thirteen acres, and around it the principal buildings were erected. Not 
only the Southern, but many of the Northern and Western States aided the 
enterprise with special buildings and exhibits. 

Of the thirteen large buildings, that of the United States Government occu- 
pied the most conspicuous site. The Administration Building was a repro- 
duction of portions of Blarney Castle, the Tower of London, Warwick Castle, 
the Rhein stein in Germany, and St. Michael's, on the coast of Brittany. On 
a considerable elevation was the Auditorium, a four-story building with a dome 



THE CENTURY'S FAIRS AND EXPOSITIONS 



439 



surmounted by a statue of Music. The largest building was that devoted to 
Manufactures and Liberal Arts, and the most original of all in design was 
the one set apart for Minerals and Forestry, which was constructed entirely 
of wood from the different Southern States \n its natural condition, with the 
bark on. The Fine Arts and the Woman's Buildings were the showiest, 
and the Negro Building was made attractive by specimens of th"> industry 
of negroes in fourteen States. The exposition was closed December 31, and 
cost about $2,000,000. 

The international exposition at Nashville, open from May 1 to October 
30, 1897, was a commemoration of the one-hundredth anniversary of the 




GRAND COURT, OMAHA EXHIBITION, 1898. 

(Night view.) 



admission of Tennessee into the Union, and had for its special attraction 
a reproduction of a number of notable buildings of antiquity. The origi- 
nal plan provided for an exposition in 1896, the true centennial year, but 
the projectors encountered unusual opposition in their efforts to procure 
the necessary funds, and it was not till early in 1897 that the incorpora- 
tors were able to begin the creation of the Centennial City. 

West Side Park, a former race-course in the suburbs of Nashville, with 
many natural attractions in running water and forest growths, was selected 
as the site, and Centennial City was made for the brief time of the expo- 
sition a full-fledged municipality, with a mayor, board of aldermen, and a 
combined police and fire department. The reproduction of notable buildings 
showed on a reduced scale the Parthenon, the Pyramid of Cheops, the 



440 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

Alamo of Texas, the Blue Grotto of Capri, a glimpse of the Rialto of Venice, 
and, in the beautiful main entrance, a type of early Egyptian architecture. 
A flagstaff 250 feet high, cotton and tobacco fields, Venetian gondolas, Van- 
ity Fair, a typical Chinese farm, an abundance of statues of classical and 
mythological subjects, waterfall and old-time wheel at work, Lake Katherine, 
Ellen Island, the umbrella fountain, and a large field for athletic sports, 
were among the pleasurable features. The State made a strong showing 
of its industrial development and of its riches yet in reserve. 

In all 190 acres of ground' were occupied. The total receipts were 
$1,087,227, and the expenditures balanced to a cent. A unique expense 
feature was that, excluding the preliminary work, the women raised the 
money and paid the entire running cost of the Woman's Department. The 
turnstiles registered 1,880,714 entrances. 

This exposition was succeeded in 1898 by the Trans-Mississippi and In- 
ternational Exposition at Omaha, an undertaking designed to show what 
had been accomplished by the pioneers and their children in the great 
Trans-Mississippi Valley, and especially in a State that forty-three years 
before was an unorganized territory in the vast tract known as the Louisiana 
Purchase. The site was a plateau just north of the city, and in planning 
the display every consideration was given to originality. Excepting that 
the grounds constituted a second White City, from the use of " staff,"' as 
at Chicago, every feature of design and construction possessed striking ele- 
ments of difference from all similar efforts in the past. 

The management was under the presidency of Gurdon W. Wattles, and 
the exposition was formally opened by President McKinley, who, in the 
White House at Washington, pressed an electric button that started the 
great engine. The United States Government erected a building of the 
classic style, following the Ionic order. It was surmounted by a colossal 
dome supporting a copy of Bartholdi's statue of " Liberty Enlightening the 
World," and had a floor space for exhibits of about 50,000 square feet. 
The Government also recognized the importance of the event by issuing a 
special set of commemorative postage stamps. Fine arts was exhibited in 
a twin-domed building, a structure in two parts, with an elaborate peristyle 
between them, and all under one great roof. 

What afforded the masses the greatest delight were the ethnological exhi- 
bits and the instructive and amusing scenes on the Midway Reserve. These 
included an Indian village, with representatives from every tribe between 
Alaska and Florida, a Chinese village, an Arabian encampment, a Moorish 
town, a Swiss village, a Cairo street, the entertaining Egyptian Pyramid, and 
the gigantic passenger-carry ing Sherman Umbrella — a mechanical marvel 
operated bj electricity, and one hundred feet higher than the Ferris Wheel of 
Chicago. There was also a picturesque lagoon or canal, half a mile long and 
150 feet wide at its narrowest part, terminating in an artificial lake trefoil in 
shape and 400 feet across. 

The exposition was opened on June 1 and was closed on October 31. In 
that time it was visited by more than 2.600,000 people, the largest single-day 
attendance being 98,785. The total receipts were not quite $2,000,000, and 
the expenditures were about $1,500,000. 

This completes the record of the most notable expositions and the inci- 



442 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 

dental history of their development, from the commercial fair of the previous 
century up to near the close of 1899. 

There remains to note a form of permanent exhibition that has been pur- 
posely reserved for this point. The Commercial Museum, of which Philadel- 
phia has the two most effective examples in existence, is a purely commercial 
development, yet an educational text-book of unique and extraordinary com- 
pass. 'Though the Philadelphia Commercial Museum and the similar depart- 
ment of the Philadelphia Bourse were both projected before the foreign trade 
of the United States had reached the enormous volume that caused wonder and 
alarm alike all over the world, both have had a powerful, direct, and imme- 
diate influence in bringing about a greater appreciation abroad of American, 
products. 

The commercial museums stand between the American producer and the 
foreign factor. They inform the former where special articles are needed 
and the latter of reputable firms who can supply their needs. By a large 
corps of traveling agents, an enormous correspondence, and a direct coop- 
eration with the State Department and its representatives, these museums 
keep in the closest possible touch with the commercial interests of the 
world. All this is independent of the exhibition feature, a vast depart- 
ment in which the principal economic productions, first of the United States 
and then correspondingly of the world, are spread before the eye of the 
visitor. In this connection should also be noted the fact that many of our 
commercial representatives abroad have established at their headquarters col- 
lections of American products that are particularly needed in their respective 
localities. 

In all of the foregoing a single text has been kept in mind : What has 
been the influence of the fair, the exhibition, the international exposition ? 
Keady answers have been suggested by the several items of cost and at- 
tendance. Another answer may be divined in their frequency and univer- 
sality. And at the close of this survey of more than a hundred years, 
probably the best answer of all is to be found in the efforts in this line with 
which one century is closed and another opened. 

These include the Greater American Exposition at Omaha, July-Novem- 
ber. 185)9, a commercial success, and a revelation of trans-Mississippi pioneer- 
ing enterprise. This was supplemented by the Export Exposition and World's 
Commercial Congress, the first of the kind ever held under the joint auspices 
of the Commercial Museum and the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia, in 
that city, in September-November. 1899. Then followed the Universal Ex- 
position in Paris, in 1900. It was regarded as especially elaborate and suc- 
cessful. It beautified the Champ de Mais and Place des Invalidss with hand- 
some industrial palaces, brought into permanent existence the two Palaces of 
Fine Arts and the Alexander III. Bridge, lined the banks of the Seine with 
the " Street of Nations," and swarmed the Trocadero with the world's colo- 
nization. Over 50,.000,000 witnessed its panoramic scenes. Its expense was 
largely provided for by prior sales of tickets on a bonded plan. The century 
turned with a prospective of the Pan American Exposition at Buffalo and 
International at Glasgow in 1901 ; the Ohio Centennial and International at 
Toledo in 19013; the International at Liege, Belgium, in 1903; and the Loui- 
siana Purchase Centennial at St. Louis in 1904. 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN COINAGE, CURRENCY, 

AND BANKING 

By HON. BRADFORD RHODES, 

Editor of "Banker's Magazine" 

I. BANKS AND BANKING RESOURCES. 

The history of nation building contains no parallel to the progress and 
development of the United States in the past one hundred years, and the 
most accurate and striking indication of this remarkable growth may be seen 
in the evolution of our currency and banking systems. As the variations in 
temperature and the changes in atmospheric pressure are measured by the 
thermometer and barometer, so are the fluctuations in a country's wealth 
gauged by the banks and other financial institutions. Likewise the degree 
of civilization to which a country has attained is reflected by the perfection 
of its monetary machinery. After having tried nearly every unwise experi- 
ment condemned by the teachings of history, the United States has finally 
reached a position where its currency meets the two fundamental require- 
ments of sound finance, namely, (1) the standard of valne is that in use 
among the great commercial states of the world ; (2) all of the currency is 
either directly or indirectly convertible into the standard coin. 

Despite some minor faults in our financial system which make the main- 
tenance of the parity of the several kinds of currency a cumbersome and 
expensive operation, and prevent the banks from rendering that full degree 
of assistance to commerce and industry which they would afford under laws 
that did not unnecessarily restrict their rightful functions, all our money re- 
sponds to the two essential tests — safety and convertibility ; while the banks 
have been among the most powerful factors in placing the United States in 
the front rank of the nations of the earth. 

Our finances maybe likened to a triangle, of which the base — the gold 
standard — has been in actual existence since 1879 (much longer than that in 
law), and the other side — safety — also assured, wanting but another addi- 
tion — elasticity — to complete the symmetrical and perfect figure. That 
this last requisite of a sound currency will be supplied by the wisdom and 
ingenuity of our people, is not to be doubted. 

There are two respects in which the financial policy of the United Stages 
is unique in comparison with most other great commercial countries ; first, 
its gold reserve is unprotected by the devices in use elsewhere, as it does not 
charge a premium on gold as the Bank of France does when gold is wanted 
for export, nor can it protect the gold reserve by raising the rate of discount 
as the great banks of Europe may do ; second, banking is practically free 
and anti-monopolistic. Under these conditions we have reached a place that 
may well excite the astonishment of the old-world countries. Our stock 
of metallic money, as estimated by the Director of the Mint, in 1898, was 
$925,000,000 in gold and $638,000,000 in silver. No other nation owned so 
much gold. Only one — China — owned as much silver, but it had no gold, 



444 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



and the per capita of silver in China is only $1.96 against $8.56 in the United 
States. Our stock of gold is more than double that of Great Britain, greater 
by a hundred millions than that of France, and also exceeds that of Germany 
and Russia. Of our silver stock, $561,500,000 is a full legal tender, and 
$76,700,000 a limited legal tender, the latter sum representing the subsidiary 
coins. 

In our banking power the situation is equally fortunate. Mulhall defines 
banking power as the paid-up capital of banks, the deposits exclusive of 
savings banks, and the amount of convertible paper money. He shows the 
growth of this form of wealth to have been as follows, from 1840 to 1894 : — 

MILLIONS POUNDS STERLING. 





Great Britain. 


United States. 


France. 


Germany. 


Other States. 


Total. 


1894 


132 
960 


90 
1,030 


16 
356 


12 
231 


58 
760 


308 
3,337 



In the two great essentials of financial strength — the quantity of metallic 
money and banking power — we have far outstripped every other nation. 
This is an unfailing sign of our advance toward a position of commercial 
and industrial supremacy. The sceptre of financial power has crossed the 
Atlantic from Europe to the New World. We are gradually acquiring com- 
mand of the world's markets, and in time we shall see our banks — ever the 
handmaids of commerce — extending their operations to the most distant 
quarters of the earth and carrying everywhere the beneficent influences of 
modern civilization. 

New York as a financial centre has been growing with astonishing rapid- 
ity in recent years. From 1879 to 1899 the banks belonging to the New 
York Clearing-House Association increased their deposits from $254,700,000 
to $910,500,000, and their specie — chiefly gold — from $54,700,000 to 
$202,600,000, the latter item having about doubled in the past two years, 
being $104,700,000 in 1897, and $202,600,000, as above stated, in 1899. The 
aggregate of banking institutions in the city — national banks, state banks, 
trust companies, and savings banks, exclusive of private banking firms — 
had. about January 1, 1899, capital, surplus, and profits amounting to 
$311,600,000; deposits of $2,047,800,000; and total resources of nearly 
$2,500,000,000. One bank — the National City — with over $144,000,000 
of deposits, is the largest in the United States ; while the Bowery Savings 
Bank, with 121,000 depositors and $67,000,000 of deposits, is the largest of 
its kind in the country. 

The present status of the different classes of banks in the United States is 
fairly shown by the following table compiled from the Annual Beport of the 
Comptroller of the Currency, for the year 1898 : — 



PROGRESS IN COINAGE, CURRENCY, AND BANKING 445 

PRINCIPAL ITEMS OF RESOURCES AND LIABILITIES OP ALL CLASSES OF BANKS IN THE 
UNITED STATES, JULY 14, 1898. 





National 
Banks. 


State Banks. 


Loan & Trust 
Companies. 


Savings 
Banks. 


Private 
Banks. 


Total. 


Loans 

United States bonds . . 
Other bonds .... 

Capital 

Surplus and profits . . 

Deposits 

Total resources . . . 


$2,151,797,655 
285,356,900 

250,689,375 
492,882,724 
622,016,745 
332,971,643 
2,076,226,576 
3,977,675,445 


$813,749,803 
4,185,304 
127,500,484 
133,877,133 
233,587,353 
109,554,519 
912,365,400 
1,356,084,800 


$539,162,445 
34,186,440 
159,791,312 

22,250,8(12 
101,228,555 

97,643,666 
662,138,397 
942,462,179 


$1,070,775,293 
140,029,726 

834,67(i,4!H 

32,928,323 

18,536,130 

187,475,971 

2,028,208,409 

2,241,344,991 


$57,206,819 

927,473 

3,599,092 

5,857,132 

16,721,750 

5,092,341 

62,085,084 

91,436,387 


$4,632,632,015 

404,685,S43 

1,376,2511.754 

687,796,174 

992,090,533 

732,738,140 

5,741,023,872 

8,609,003,802 



There were 3582 national banks that reported, and 5903 other banks, a 
total of 9485. The total banking funds, that is, capital, surplus and profits, 
and individual deposits, of all banks reporting, amounted to $7,416,355,568. 

We cannot get a correct understanding of these figures without going back 
to earlier dates and making comparisons. In 1798 there were twenty-five 
state banks in the country, against 3965 reporting to the Comptroller of the 
Currency in 1898, which is perhaps about 90 per cent of the total of such 
institutions now existing. 

A hundred years ago the capital of the state banks was less than twenty 
millions, compared with $233,971,643 now reported. They had, all told, but 
$14,000,000 of specie — half as much as is now held by one New York city 
bank alone. Their circulation was only $9,000,000, compared with more 
than $200,000,000 of national bank circulation now outstanding. 

The national banks also show a remarkable growth. In 1869 there were 
1620 banks in operation, reporting $420,800,000 capital, $547,900,000 individ- 
ual deposits, $17,500,000 specie, and $1,517,700,000 total resources. Thirty 
years later the number of banks had increased to 3590, while the capital was 
$608,300,000, the individual deposits $2,232,100,000, and specie $371,843,400, 
while the total resources had increased to $4,403,800,000. 

The total wealth of the United States in 1895 was estimated at more than 
$80,000,000,000, — far exceeding in the aggregate that of any other country 
in the world. It is expected that the census of 1900 will show our total 
wealth to be more than $100,000,000,000, or probably double that of Great 
Britain, the next richest nation. 

But while the nation is piling up wealth at an unexampled rate, it cannot 
be said that this is a land "where wealth accumulates and men decay." 
Great in its material resources, the country was never before stronger in 
those elements which constitute the chief reliance of national power. A 
united citizenship, possessing an honesty that adversity cannot sully and an 
intelligence that when once aroused penetrates the most cunningly concealed 
economic sophistries, working out the problems of the future under laws and 
conditions assuring to the individual the largest opportunities, points to a 
development in the twentieth century in no wise inferior to that of the hun- 
dred years preceding. 



IT. COINAGE AND PRODUCTION OF PRECIOUS METALS. 

The prevailing systems of coinage in this country and among all great 
commercial nations are the result of development and growth. Gold and 



446 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

silver have become the principal money metals by a process of natural selec- 
tion, which has chosen the instruments best suited to the purpose. In recent 
years, and under the laws of development, nearly all the great trading coun- 
tries of the world have selected gold as the standard of value. In the future, 
gold itself may give way to something better, for it only relatively meets the 
essentials of a perfect standard. 

Among Greeks, Romans, and Oriental peoples, cattle were generally used 
as a standard of value. The modern rupee of India is the old Sanscrit word 
roupa, a herd. Capital is but the estimate of Roman riches in cattle. The 
Latin pecus, cattle, is the root of pecunia, riches, and the origin of our word 
pecuniary. The Icelanders measured values in dried fish ; the Hudson Bay 
country in skins ; the early Virginians in tobacco : the Indians of the United 
States and Canada in wampum ; the Chinese, even in recent times, in squares 
of pressed tea ; the Africans in bars of salt and slaves. 

These primitive devices gradually gave way, under the demands of inter- 
national trade, to the use of metals as standards of value. Tin, copper, gold, 
silver, and iron all were used, and, at first, passed by weight. Government 
coinage of money is thought to date from the seventh century B. c, and is 
credited to the Lydians aiid to Pheidon of Argos. the official stamp being a 
guarantee of the honesty, weight, and purity of the coins. 

Modern coinage dates from the reformation of the coinage of Rome under' 
Constantine, who introduced the gold solidus of $3.02 in value, and a silver 
coin of like weight but of relative value. After the time of Julian, this silver 
piece, called siliqua, was given such value as that twenty-four of them equaled 
a gold solidus. In the Frankish Empire, under the Merovingian kings, the 
relative values of the solidus and siliqua fluctuated greatly. In the eighth 
century, on account of the scarcity of gold, there was a gradual transition to 
the silver standard, and a silver unit, also called a solidus, was substituted for 
the gold sol id us. the former being divided into twelve pence. This silver 
solidus afterwards became the shilling of England and Germany. At first 300 
pence were coined out of a pound of silver; but under Pepin the number was 
reduced to twenty -two solid i of twelve pence each — 264 pence — out of a 
pound of silver. Under Charlemagne it was provided that only 240 pence, 
or twenty solidi of account, should be stamped out of a pound of silver, and 
this system was introduced, with more or less success, in what is now France 
and Germany. As to form, it has remained, up to the most recent period, 
the basis not only of the countries of Charlemagne's Empire but of England. 

After the time of Henry VIII. came a period of coinage debasement which 
culminated in 1551. A thorough coinage reform was effected under Eliza- 
beth in 1560. The first large coinages of gold in England were made under 
James I. These continued until the death of William III., in 1701. Still, 
silver continued to be the standard metal, and in 1695 another attempt was 
made to reform the currency by a recoinage of the silver pieces, most of 
which had been clipped or worn, into a new full-weight silver coin. These, 
however, were soon exported, in spite of a. reduction of the current value of 
the guinea, in 1717. The gold standard in England gained a nearly complete 
victory by act of Parliament in 1774, which provided that silver coins not of 
full weight (there were hardly any others) need not be accepted in payments 
-of more than twenty-five pounds, except by weight. This provision, after 



PROGRESS IN COINAGE, CURRENCY, AND BANKING 447 

several reuewals, became permanent in 1798. In 1797 coinage of silver was 
suspended, and the single gold standard practically introduced, though its 
operation was somewhat interfered with by the existence of a paper currency. 
In 1816 the present English monetary system was introduced. It held fast 
to the gold standard, by the provision that silver pieces should be used only 
as divisional coins, and with a legal-tender power limited to |ort}^ shillings. 

Properly speaking, there was no coinage in the United States during the 
colonial period. Maryland had a mint at one time, and one or two of the 
other States, but they practically amounted to nothing. In the early colonial 
period the substitutes for coins were wampum and bullets, as in Massachu- 
setts ; skins and furs, as in New York : tobacco, as in Maryland and Virginia. 



OLD UNITED STATES MINT, PHILADELPHIA. 

The coins in use before the Revolution were, to some extent, those of Eng- 
land, but more largely those of Spain, circulated in South America and 
traveling up to the United States. The unit of account was the Spanish 
milled dollar or piece-of-eight, though, up to 1775, accounts were kept in 
pounds, shillings, and pence, a pound consisting, then as now, of twenty 
shillings, and a shilling of twelve pence -'colonial" or "pound" currency. 
Four pounds of this " colonial currency " were reckoned as equal to three 
pounds sterling. 

This colonial composite system of current coins was regulated by coinage 

tariffs. Such a tariff, issued in 1750, valued one ounce of silver at six 

shillings and eightpence, the Spanish milled dollar at six shillings, the 

guinea at twenty-eight shillings, and the English crown at six shillings and 

29 



448 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

eightpeiice. All foreign coins were valued in proportion to the value of 
the Spanish piece-of-eight. Some of the colonies stamped the shilling, 
which constituted a large part of the money in circulation. It, however, 
varied greatly in value in the different colonies. Thus, the Spanish dollar 
equaled five shillings in Georgia ; eight in North Carolina and New York ; six 
in Virginia, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island ; 
seven and sixpence in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey ; 
thirty-two and sixpence in South Carolina. The Spanish dollar itself, with 
which these comparisons were made, was frequently below legal weight, and r 
therefore, varied in value. Where the pieces mentioned in the tariff of 
1776 were of full weight, the ratio there established was the English ratio 
of one to 15.21, the ratio for bullion being nearly the same. 

After the tariff of 1776 had been in operation for six years, the colo- 
nies began to feel keenly the difficulties caused by the variety of coins 
constituting their metallic circulating medium, and the need of a special 
American coinage was frequently expressed. In 1782, Robert Morris, super- 
intendent of finance, submitted to the Congress of the Confederation a 
scheme for a national coinage and the establishment of an American mint, 
which met with approval. Jefferson recommended the decimal system, with 
the dollar as the unit. Neither of these proposals was carried into effect 
till, in 1786. the Congress of the Confederation chose as the monetary unit 
of the United States the dollar of 375.64 grains of pure silver, which unit 
had its origin in the Spanish piaster or milled dollar, then the basis of 
the metallic circulation of the English colonies in America. This American 
dollar was never coined, there not being at the time a mint in the United 
States. 

The Act of April 2, 1792. established the first monetary system of the 
United States. The bases of the system were : The gold dollar, containing 
24.75 grains of pure gold, and stamped in pieces of $ 10, $5, and $2.50, 
denominated respectively eagles, half-eagles, and quarter-eagles ; the silver 
dollar, containing 371.25 grains of pure silver. A mint was established. 
The coinage was unlimited, and there was no mint charge. The ratio of 
gold to silver in coinage was 1 : 15. Both gold and silver were legal tender. 
The standard was double.* The Act of 1792 undervalued gold, which was 
therefore exported. The Act of June 28, 1834, was passed to remedy this 
by changing the mint ratio between the metals to 1 : 16.002. The latter act 
fixed the weight of the gold dollar at 25.8 grains, but lowered the fineness 
from 0.916§ to 0.899225. The fine weight of the gold dollar was thus reduced 
to 23.2 grains. The Act of 1834 undervalued silver as that of 1792 had 
undervalued gold, and silver was attracted to Europe by the more favorable 
ratio of 1 : 15J. The Act of January 18, 1837, was passed to make the fine- 
ness of the gold and silver coins uniform. The legal weight of the gold dollar 
was fixed at 25.8 grains, and its fine weight at 23.22 grains. The fineness 
was therefore changed by this act to 0.900 and the ratio to 1 : 15.988 -f- . Sil- 
ver continued to be exported. The Act of February 21, 1853, reduced the 
weight of the silver coins of a denomination less than $1, which the Acts 
of 1792, 1834, and 1837 had made exactly proportional to the weight of the 

* This was true so far as the law was concerned, but not actually, as may be seen by reading the 
sentences immediately following the above statement. 



PROGRESS IN COINAGE, CURRENCY, AND BANKING 449 

silver dollar, and provided that they should be legal tender to the amount of 
only $5. Under the Acts of 1791!, 1834, and 1837 they had been full legal 
tender. By the Act of 1853 the legal weight of the half dollar was re- 
duced to 192 grains, and other fractions of the dollar in proportion. The 
coinage of the fractional parts of the dollar was reserved to the govern- 
ment. 

The Act of February 12, 1873, provided that the unit of value of the United 
States should be the gold dollar of the standard weight of 25.8 grains, and 
that there should be coined besides the following gold coins : A quarter-eagle, 
or two and-a-half dollar gold piece ; a three-dollar gold piece ; a half-eagle, or 
five-dollar piece ; an eagle, or ten-dollar piece ; and a double eagle, or twenty- 
dollar piece, all of a standard weight proportional to that of the dollar piece. 
These coins were made legal tender in all payments at their nominal value 
when not below the standard weight and limit of tolerance provided in the 
act for the single piece, and when reduced in weight they should be legal 
tender at a valuation in proportion to their actual weight. The silver coins 
provided for by the Act were a trade dollar, a half-dollar or fifty-cent piece, a 
quarter-dollar, and a ten-cent piece, the weight of the trade dollar to be 420 
grains troy ; the half-dollar, twelve and a half grams ; the quarter-dollar and 
dime, respectively, one half and one fifth of the weight of the half-dollar. 
The silver coins were made legal tender at their nominal value for any amount 
not exceeding $5 in any one payment. Owners of silver bullion were allowed 
to deposit it at any mint of the United States to be formed into bars or into 
trade dollars, and no deposit of silver for other coinage was to be received. 
Section 2 of the joint resolution of July 22, 1876, recited that the trade dollar 
should not thereafter be legal tender, and that the Secretary of the Treasury 
should be authorized to limit the coinage of the same to an amount sufficient 
to meet the export demand for it. 

The Act of March 3, 1887, retired the trade dollar and prohibited its 
coinage. That of September 26, 1890, discontinued the coinage of the one- 
dollar and three-dollar gold pieces. The Act of February 28, 1878, directed 
the coinage of silver dollars of the weight of 412^ grains troy, of standard 
silver, as provided in the Act of January 18, 1837, and that such coins, with 
all silver dollars theretofore coined, should be legal tender at their nomi- 
nal value for all debts and dues, public and private, except where otherwise 
expressly stipulated in the contract. The Secretary of the Treasury was 
authorized and directed by the first section of the act to purchase from time 
to time silver bullion at the market price thereof, not less than $2,000,000 
worth nor more than $ 4,000,000 worth per month, and to cause the. same 
to be coined monthly, as fast as purchased, into such dollars. A subsequent 
act, that of July 14, 1890, enacted that the Secretary of the Treasury should 
purchase silver bullion to the aggregate amount of 4,500,000 ounces, or so 
much thereof as might be offered, each month, at the market price thereof, 
not exceeding $1.00 for 371.25 grains of pure silver, and to issue in payment 
thereof Treasury notes of the United States, such notes to be redeemable by 
the government, on demand, in coin, and to be legal tender in payment of all 
debts, public and private, except where otherwise expressly stipulated in the 
contract. The act directed the Secretary of the Treasury to coin each month 
2,000,000 ounces of the silver bullion purchased under the provisions of the 



450 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 



act into standard silver dollars until July 1, 1891, and thereafter as much as 
might be necessary, to provide for the redemption of the Treasury notes 
issued under the act. The purchasing clause of the Act of July 14, 1890, was 
repealed by the Act of November 1, 1893. The War Revenue Act of June 13, 
1898, authorized and directed the coinage of standard silver dollars to the 
amount of not less than one and one half million dollars a month, from the 
bullion in the Treasury purchased under the Act of July 14, 1890. The Act 
of June 9, 1879, made the subsidiary silver coins of the United States legal 
tender to the amount of $10. The minor coins are legal tender to the amount 
of twenty-five cents. 

The following official figures give, by periods of ten years, the coinage 
of the United States from the establishment of the Mint to the present 
time : — 



Years. 


Gold. 


Silver. 


Minor. 


Total. 


1793-1799 


$696,530.00 

3,007,067.50 

2,348,915.00 

2,579,017.50 

17,745,422.50 

58,909,439.00 

352,915,059.00 

290,780,131.00 

370,718,883.50 

411,766,277.00 

374,806,225.00 


$1,216,158.75 

3,154,087.75 

6,107,903.75 

14,7X7,327.65 

28,112,136.60 

22,223,733.00 

47,238,813.00 

13,037,607.90 

142,190,178.00 

305,809,081.20 

130,248,501.05 


$50,111.42 

164,SC5.79 

102,534.07 

178,372.70 

334,810.21 

300,840.33 

1,135,580.03 

8,504,070.00 

2,231,009.50 

8,127,305.56 

7,564,849.65 


$1,962,800.17 

6,380,621.04 

8,019,561.82 

17,544,717.85 

46,192,369.31 

81,494,012.33 

401,289,443.03 

312,927,808.90 

515,140,071.60 

725,762,663.76 

518,619,570.30 


1800 1809 


1810-1819 


1820-1829 

1830-1839 


1840-1849 

1850-1859 


1870-1879 


1880-1889 


1890 to June 30, 1897 .... 




$1,886,338,958.00 


$720,792,129.85 


$28,814,558.26 


$2,035,945,646.01 



At this writing the report of the Director of the Mint has not been pub- 
lished, but the coinage for the full year 1897 may be stated as follows : gold, 
$76,028,484 ; silver, $ 18,486,697 ; and for the year 1898, gold, $77,985,757 ; 
silver, .$23,034,034. From January 1 to June 30, 1899, the coinage was : gold, 
$65,915,020; silver, $12,780,441. 

It is sometimes thought that the silver dollars are not a full legal tender, 
but this is not so. They are an unlimited legal tender for all debts, public 
and private. The Treasury does not, in practice, redeem silver dollars in gold, 
but successive Secretaries of the Treasury have announced their readiness to 
do so, if necessary to keep the silver dollars from depreciating, — that is, 
preserve their parity, — which the law directs. 

Silver certificates and gold certificates are not legal tender, but entitle the 
holder to receive the kind and amount of coin named on their face. 

The value of gold bullion in a dollar of that metal is 99.991125 cents, or 
practically 100 cents. The value of the silver bullion in a dollar of that 
metal is about 45 cents. It varies, however, with the fluctuations in the 
market value of silver. 

It will thus be seen that the bullion value of a silver dollar and of a gold 
dollar differs greatly, but the equality of the purchasing power of the two 
coins is due to the fact that the silver dollars are receivable for public and 
private debts, that they are indirectly exchangeable for gold, by depositing 
them in the banks, and that the government is pledged to redeem them in 
gold, if necessary to preserve their parity with gold. 



452 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

As early as 1826 the United States began to export domestic gold, begin- 
ning with an export of $1,056,088 of gold coin and bullion, and receiving 
an import of $678,740. Up to 1897 the grand total of exports of gold coin 
and bullion amounted to $2,186,238,541, and the total imports to $1,112,- 
138,766, an excess of exports over imports of $1,074,099,775. In 1898 the 
imports of gold coin and bullion into the United States were $120,391,674, 
and the exports $1 5,406,391 , making the net imports $104,985,283. 

From 1821 to 1897 the grand total of exports of silver coin and bullion 
from the United States was $1,152,688,776, and the imports $730,325,881, 
making an excess of exports over imports of $422,362,895. In the fiscal 
year 1898, the silver imports were $30,927,781, and the exports $55,105,239, 
making the excess of exports $24,177,458. 

The total product of gold in the United States from 1792 up to 1896 was 
$2,113,034,769, and of silver $1,444,970,000, making a grand total of the 
precious metals of $3,558,004,769. The total value of the entire world's 
production of gold, between the years 1493 and 1896, was $8,983,320,600, 
and of silver $10,556,700,800, making a grand total of gold and silver of 
$19,540,021,400. 

As a comparison of the money status of the United States at the beginning 
and end of the century, the following figures are interesting : In 1800 the 
population was 5,308,483; the estimated bank notes outstanding, $10,500,000; 
the estimated specie in the country, $17,500,000 ; the total money in the 
United States, $28,000,000; the specie in the Treasury, $1,500,000; the 
money in circulation, $26,500,000 ; the amount per capita, $4.99. In 1898 
the population was 74,522,000 ; the total coin in the United States, including 
bullion in the Treasury, $1,498,993,249; total paper money, $1,13S,440.1L'C> ; 
total money of all kinds, $2, <>.'!7. 488.875 ; coin, bullion, and paper money in 
the Treasury. $799,537,480; total circulation, $1,837,859,895; circulation per 
capita, $24.66. 

Perhaps no law relating to the coins and currency of the United States has 
been so widely discussed, or has borne more directly on the attitude and 
influence of political parties than the Coinage Act of 1873. This act grew 
out of a proposition to revise our coinage laws, made by John Jay Knox to 
the Secretary of the Treasury, in April, 1870. Mr. Knox, in his rough draft 
of a bill, provided for a silver dollar of 384 grains, to be a legal tender for 
sums not exceeding $5.00. Thus, the standard silver dollar of 412^ grains 
was eliminated. It did not appear in the bill as it passed the Senate, Janu- 
ary 10, 1871, nor in that reported to the House, March 9, 1871. The bill 
underwent protracted and thorough discussion, and on May 27, 1872. was 
passed in the House. As passed, it contained the original provision for coin- 
ing a silver dollar of the weight of 384 grains — twice the weight of the 
silver half dollar. These dollars were to be a legal tender for amounts not 
exceeding $5.00. The Senate amended this House bill, by substituting a 
trade dollar of the weight of 420 grains for that of 384 grains, at the same 
time preserving the legal-tender limit of $5.00. In the amended form, it 
passed the Senate, January 17, 1873, and the House, February 7, 1873, and 
became a law. It will be seen that the standard silver dollar of 412J grains 
was never in the bill, and could not, therefore, have been secretly omitted, 
as was afterwards charged. It was omitted from the first draft, and all 




CARPENTERS' HALL, PHILADELPHIA. 

(First Site of First United States Bank.) 



454 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

through, because none were being coined, and those that had been coined 
were exported, the silver bullion in them being, at that time, worth more as 
bullion than coin. By joint resolution of Congress, approved July 22, 1876, 
the trade dollars provided for in the act were deprived of their legal-tender 
quality. It was supposed they would circulate in China, but they proved 
useless even for that purpose. 

III. EARLY BANKING IN THE UNITED STATES. 

The first banks in the United States owed their origin to Robert Morris 
and Alexander Hamilton. Morris, as early as 1763, conceived the plan of a 
bank to assist in developing American trade, and in 1779, Hamilton proposed 
the organization of " The Company of the Bank of the United States." 
These plans did not mature, but were followed, at the suggestion of Thomas 
Paine, by an association of ninety-two subscribers to a fund of 300,000 
pounds Pennsylvania currency to support the Revolutionary army. This 
association became known as the Pennsylvania Bank. It commenced busi- 
ness July 17, 1780, and after a career of a year and a half, during which time 
it greatly aided the government in furnishing army supplies, its affairs were 
wound up. 

On May 17, 1781, Hamilton presented the plan of a bank to Congress, 
which was to be truly national, and " created avowedly to aid the United 
States." Its name was to be the Bank of North America, with a subscrip- 
tion of $400,000 in gold and silver, and its notes, payable on demand, to be 
receivable for duties and taxes in every State. Congress approved the plan, 
and Morris, then Superintendent of Finance, published it, with an address 
showing its advantages to the government and people, then suffering from 
the ill effects of a depreciated currency. 

The Bank of North America was organized November 1, 1781, and began 
business January 7, 1782. It creditably fulfilled its mission "to aid the 
United States," and, after the expiration of its charter, became a State 
institution. In 1864 it entered the national banking system, though retain- 
ing its old name. This bank was followed by the Bank of New York, which 
began business June 9, 1784, and by the Massachusetts Bank, which began 
business July 5, 1784. 

Pirst United States Bank. — This institution grew out of the recom- 
mendations of Alexander Hamilton, and formed a part of his scheme of 
strengthening the public credit and bringing about a closer union of States. 
His plan Avas incorporated into a bill which passed the Senate January 3, 
1791, and the House, January 20, 1791. Washington signed it February 25, 
1791. The bill was hotly opposed as unconstitutional by Secretary of State 
Thomas Jefferson, Attorney-General Edmund Randolph, and in general by 
representatives from the Southern States. 

The capital of the bank was fixed at $10,000,000, one fifth of which was 
to be subscribed by the government. The remainder was subscribed by indi- 
viduals, and two hours after the opening of the books the capital was over- 
subscribed to the amount of 4000 shares. The central bank was located at 
Philadelphia, and afterwards branches were established in New York, Boston, 
Baltimore, Washington, Norfolk, Charleston, Savannah, and New Orleans. 
Business was first opened in Carpenters' Hall, Philadelphia, December 12, 



PROGRESS IN COINAGE, CURRENCY, AND BANKING 



455 



1791. In July, 1797, the site was removed to a new building on Third 
Street, below Chestnut, and it remained there till the dissolution of the bank, 
with the exception of a brief removal to Germantown in 1798, during the 
epidemic of yellow fever. Though this bank proved a profitable enterprise 
for the government, it failed to secure a renewal of its charter in 1811, 
chiefly because so many of its shares had passed into foreign hands. 

Early State Banks. — From 1790 to 1811 the number of State banks 
increased from four to eighty -eight ; their circulation from $2,500,000 to 
$22,700,000 ; their capital from $2,500,000 to $42,010,000. In the same time 




THE GIRARD BANK, PHILADELPHIA. 

(Second Site of First United States Bank.) 

the metallic circulation of the country rose from $9,000,000 to $30,000,000. 
These banks failed to meet the monetary necessities of the War of 1812, and 
in 1814 practically all of them south of New England suspended specie pay- 
ments. Their notes were poured out in all denominations from six cents 
upward, and, with coin redemption stopped, they depreciated rapidly. This 
led to great financial distress in 1818-1820, and to excessive bank failures. 
The seriousness of the general situation, and the declining credit of the gov- 
ernment, led to the establishment of the second Bank of the United States. 

Second Bank of the United States. — In October, 1814, Secretary 
Dallas laid a report before Congress, in which he deprecated the uncertain 
amount and value of the paper currency. " There exists," he said, " at this 
time no adequate circulating medium common to the citizens of the United 



456 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

States. The moneyed transactions of private life are at a stand, and the 
fiscal operations of the government labor with extreme inconvenience." He 
then recommended as the remedy the establishment of a national banking 
institution. A bill, based upon Dallas's plan for such an institution, failed 
of passage in the House in 1814, and again in 1815, though passed by the 
Senate. It Avas, however, finally passed in an amended form, but was vetoed 
by President Madison. 

On December 24, 1815, Mr. Dallas laid before Congress another plan for a 
national bank. A bill was framed authorizing such an institution, with a 
capital of $35,000,000, $7,000,000 of which were to be subscribed by the 
government, the central bank to be at Philadelphia, with power to establish 
branches, payments to be made in specie at all times unless otherwise author- 
ized by Congress. This bill passed both Houses of Congress, and was signed 
by President Madison, April 10, 1816. When the subscription books of this 
bank were closed, it was found that the subscriptions fell short of the author- 
ized 135,000,000 by $3,000,000, which amount was taken by Stephen Girard. 

The bank could not lend more than $500,000 to the government without 
authority of Congress, was to be the fiscal agent of the Treasury, and to 
receive deposits of public moneys. No notes of a less denomination than 
$5.00 were to be issued, and the penalty for refusing to pay notes or deposits 
in specie on demand was twelve per cent per annum until paid. It began 
business January 7, 1817. Owing to the impending financial crisis and bad 
management, the bank verged rapidly toward insolvency, but was resuscitated 
under the vigorous management of a new president, Langdon Cheves. who 
was elected March 6, 1819. He was succeeded by Nicholas Biddle in 1823, 
who was destined to see the fall of the great institution. 

The national bank incurred the hostility of the State banks, which called 
it a monster because it refused to allow the notes of the local banks to 
accumulate as deposits in its branches without redemption. Various States 
passed discriminating laws against it. Jackson, in his message to Congress 
in 1829, attacked the constitutionality of the law establishing it, and charged 
that it had "failed in the great end of establishing a uniform and sound cur- 
rency." At this time the Bank was an imposing institution with its capital 
of $35,000,000, its public deposits of six to seven million, its private deposits 
of a like amount, its circulation of $12,000,000, its annual discounts of 
$40,000,000, its annual profits of over $3,000,000, its palatial establishment 
in Philadelphia, its twenty-five branches throughout the Union, its five hun- 
dred employees, its stock distributed through nearly all parts of the world, 
and its notes current at par at home and abroad. 

Jackson's message was not received favorably by Congress. His aversion, 
it was thought, was due rather to his belief that the Bank was his enemy 
than to any dislike of a national bank. The growing hostility between him 
and Henry Clay induced the latter to make the renewal of the Bank's charter 
a political issue. When the bill rechartering the Bank was passed in July, 
1832, Jackson vetoed it, charging, in the main, that the Bank was a monopoly. 
This brought the question of the further existence of the Bank fully into the 
arena of politics, in the presidential election of 1832, with the " Hero of New 
Orleans " on one side, and on the other " monster monopoly," " Old Nick's 
money," and " Clay's rags." Jackson won, and speedily decided to remove 



PROGRESS IN COINAGE, CURRENCY, AND BANKING 45? 

the public deposits from the Bank. This decision precipitated a bitter war 
between Jackson and Congress. But Jackson did not swerve from his pur- 
pose. By 1835 it became apparent that the Bank could not secure a renewal 
of its charter from Congress. As a confession of its defeat, and just thirteen 
days before the expiration of its federal charter, the Bank obtained from the 
State of Pennsylvania, February 18, 1836, a charter for the United States 
Bank of Pennsylvania, for a period of thirty years. Shorn of its impor- 
tance, in a restricted held, yet with enormous capital, it fell into large bond 
and stock investments of questionable value. Its troubles were aggravated 




SECOND UNITED STATES BANK, PHILADELPHIA. NOW CUSTOM HOUSE. 



by bad management. It suspended during the panic of 1837 and the next 
year, and again for the last time in 1841. Biddle resigned the presidency in 
1840, and four years later died poor and broken-hearted. Thus perished 
what is sometimes called the third Bank of the United States, its predeces- 
sor, the second Bank of the United States, having fallen a victim to political 
intrigue and loss of prestige. The shareholders lost their entire investment 
of $28,000,000, but the circulating notes were all paid, and also the deposits. 
The government got back its investment of $7,000,000, and made $6,093,167 
besides, from its connection with the Bank. 

State Banks and Independent Treasury. — After the removal of de- 
posits from the Bank of the United States, September 26. 1833, the public 
revenues were deposited in selected State banks, sometimes called "pet 
banks." In 1836 eighty-eight State banks in twenty-four States held public 



458 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

deposits to the amount of $49,377,986. As the State banks had thrown their 
influence against the national bank, they were rewarded by allowing them 
to use the public money intrusted to them as a basis of extending their loans 
and for enormous issues of their own notes. Banks were started for the sole 
purpose of issuing notes which they could use in buying public lands. As a 
consequence the government lost heavily through the depreciation of these 
notes and the failure of the banks. On July 11, 1836, the Secretary of the 
Treasury issued a circular forbidding the receipt of anything but specie in 
payment for public lands. This caused a run on the banks and aided in 
hastening the financial crisis of 1837. An act of Congress of June 23, 1836, 
authorizing the calling in of $37,468,859 of the public funds deposited in the 
State banks, for purposes of distribution, forced the suspension of specie 
payments by all such banks, with very few exceptions. 

The unsatisfactory trial of both federal and State banks as custodians of 
the public funds led to the establishment of what became known as the inde- 
pendent Treasury system, by which the government collects its money and 
keeps it in the hands of the United States Treasurer or sub-treasurers, mak- 
ing disbursements when required. An act putting this system into effect 
became law July 4, 1840, but was repealed the next year. It was repassed 
August 6, 1846, and remained in operation until the passage of the National 
Currency Act in February, 1863, which gave the Secretary of the Treasury 
the right to designate certain national banks as depositories of public funds. 
There were in such banks, on February 4. 1899, United States deposits 
amounting to $81,120,873. secured by United States bonds belonging to the 
banks and deposited in the Treasury, amounting to $89,100,240. Prior to 
the adoption of the national banking s}-stem the country had a somewhat 
disastrous experience with what has been known as " wild-cat " banks. Many 
of them were organized for the sole purpose of issuing notes they never in- 
tended to pay. While they were numerous and dangerous, it must be remem- 
bered that in a number of States the leading banks carried on only a 
legitimate business, and State banks as they exist to-day compare favorably 
in their management with the national banks. 

IV. HISTORY OF THE LEGAL-TENDER NOTE. 

The first act authorizing the issue of legal-tender notes, known popularly 
as greenbacks, was approved by President Lincoln, February 25, 1862. It 
provided for the issue of $150,000,000 in notes, in denominations of not less 
than $5.00. Holders of these notes could deposit them with the United 
States Treasurer or assistant treasurers in any sum not less than $50.00, 
or any multiple thereof, and receive United States bonds bearing six per cent 
interest. The first notes were issued March 10, 1862. An act authorizing 
a second issue of $150,000,000 was signed by the President, July 11, 1862. 
Of these $35,000,000 were to be in denominations of less than $5.00. A 
third issue of $150,000,000 was authorized March 3, 1863, but this act de- 
prived the legal-tender note of its convertibility into six per cent bonds at 
the option of the holder. 

The withdrawal of this privilege worked no particular hardship at the 
time, for bond issues and various interest-bearing certificates were plenty 
during the period of war. But after the war had closed and the issues of 



PROGRESS IN COINAGE, CURRENCY, AND BANKING 459 

•new securities had ceased, the absence of this provision began to prevent the 
absorption of the legal-tender notes. 

The highest amount of legal-tender notes outstanding at any date was on 
January 3, 1864. $449,338,902. Their depreciation was hastened by the issue 
of the short-time interest-bearing securities in large amounts. During 1862 
the average gold premium was 113.3 ; during 1863, 145.2 ; during 1864, 203.3. 
In July, 1864, this premium reached its highest point, an average of 258.1. 

In 1865 the country began to feel the necessity of a contraction of the 
currency, with a view to as early a resumption of specie payments as the 
business interests would permit, and the Congress expressed the public senti- 
ment by an almost unanimous resolution. On March 12, 1866, an act was 
approved calling for the retirement and cancellation of not more than 
$10,000,000 of legal tenders within six months, and thereafter not more 
than $1,000,000 during any one month. The effect was to reduce the legal 
tenders outstanding on December 31, 1867, to $356,000,000. 

This reduction, together with the rapid payment of notes of other classes, 
used as currency, led to so sudden a contraction of the circulating medium, 
and such stringency in the money market, that Congress, by act of February 
4, 1868, prohibited the further reduction of the legal-tender notes. The 
amount outstanding, October 1, 1872, was $356,000,000, and on January 1, 
1874, $382,979,815, the increase being due to a construction on the part of 
secretaries of the Treasury to the effect that they had power to reissue 
retired notes which were held as a reserve. On June 20, 1874, Congress 
enacted that the United States notes outstanding and to be used as part of 
the circulating medium should not exceed $382,000,000, and that no part 
thereof should be held or used as a reserve. 

Another attempt was made in 1875 to reduce the aggregate of legal-tender 
notes, preparatory to the resumption of specie payments. The Resumption 
Act of January 14, 1875, authorized, among other things, the retirement and 
•cancellation of legal tenders till the amount outstanding should be reduced 
to $300,000,000 ; $35,318,984 were retired under this law, but further reduc- 
tion was prohibited by act of May 31, 1878. The amount outstanding at that 
•date was $346,681,016, and this has continued to the present time, no new 
issues having been authorized. 

On January 1, 1879, the resumption of specie payments took place as pro- 
vided in the act of January 14, 1875. At this latter date, the only legal- 
tender coin recognized by law was the gold coin. But, in February, 1878, 
the coinage of standard silver dollars was authorized, and they were to be a 
legal tender for all debts, unless otherwise expressly stipulated in the con- 
tract. This led to the claim on the part of those who favored silver that the 
redemption of legal-tender notes, provided for in coin in the act of 1875, 
•could be effected by the use of silver dollars. But the general, and doubtless 
sound, construction of the law of 1875 has been that it was an express con- 
tract to redeem the legal-tender notes in the coin then recognized as legal 
tender, and in no other ; and so the Treasury has redeemed legai tenders 
since 1879, in gold, when the same is demanded. 

In 1869 the United States Supreme Court, the bench not being full, de- 
clared the acts authorizing legal-tender notes to be unconstitutional. But 
subsequently, the bench having its full quota of nine, the Court sustained the 



460 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 

constitutionality of the acts, on the ground, mainly, that they were a proper 
exercise of the war power vested in the Congress. In 1883 the Court decided 
that the reissues of these notes, made in time of peace, were constitutional. 

At the time of the resumption of specie payments there were $135,000,000 in 
gold and bullion on hand to provide for the redemption of such notes as might 
be presented. By Act of July 12, 1882, it was provided that when the redemp- 
tion reserve of gold coin and bullion in the Treasury fell below $100,000,000, 
the issue of gold certificates should cease. This is held to indicate that Con- 
gress regarded $100,000,000 as the limit below which the redemption reserve 
should not be permitted to fall. 

If this reserve had not been called upon to bear other burdens, there would 
probably never have been any doubts as to its sufficiency. In 1878, however, 
began the coinage of silver dollars and the issue of silver certificates. These 
notes were kept at par in gold by their interchangeability in the operations 
of commerce for legal-tender notes. They were thus an indirect charge on 
the gold reserve. From 1878 to 1890 they were increased at the rate of over 
$2,500,000 a month. In that year (July 14, 1890) an act was passed provid- 
ing for the issue of Treasury notes in the purchase of silver bullion, which 
provided also for the coinage of some of the bullion purchased into silver dol- 
lars. These Treasury notes were redeemable both in gold and silver, and as 
the government never availed itself of its option to redeem in silver when 
gold was demanded for them, these notes as they were issued became a further 
burden on the gold reserve provided for the legal-tender notes. 

By the beginning of the year 1893 the legal-tender notes, silver certificates, 
and Treasury notes had reached an aggregate of nearly $800,000,000, all 
depending on the Treasury reserve for gold redemption. 

This reduction of the percentage of gold held to the amount of the demand 
liabilities raised doubts as to the ability of the government to maintain gold 
payments, and the legal tenders and Treasury notes were presented for 
redemption. The depletion of gold was so great that on one or two occa- 
sions there was danger that the reserve would be exhausted, and resort was 
had to the sale of bonds to procure gold to replenish the reserve. 

The issue of further Treasury notes was stopped by the repeal of the act 
of 1890 in November, 1893, and since this repeal confidence in the ability of 
the Treasury to maintain gold redemptions has been gradually restored. 

Under the provisions of the Act of May, 1878, the legal-tender notes when 
redeemed cannot be canceled. They must be paid out again, and therefore 
when reissued, they may again be presented for redemption. This consti- 
tutes the so-called endless chain by which the gold in the Treasury is always 
liable to be drawn out. 

V. THE NATIONAL BANKING SYSTEM. 

The desirability of perfecting the banking and currency system of the 
country was readily perceived on the breaking out of the Civil War in 1861. 
Secretary Chase in two annual reports, those of 1861 and 1862, recommended 
a system of national banks, whose supervision should be by national author- 
ity, and whose issues of notes should be based on deposits of bonds of the 
government. After several unsuccessful attempts, a bill, introduced by Mr. 
Sherman, passed both Senate and House, and became a law February 25, 1863. 



PROGRESS IN COINAGE, CURRENCY, AND BANKING 461 

This act embodied the essential features of Mr. Chase's reports. Under it 
the first charter was issued to the First National Bank of Philadelphia. 

The formation of national banks proceeded very slowly at first. In order 
to hold out greater inducements for the State banks to enter the national sys- 
tem, the act was amended on June 3, 1864. The first report of the Comp- 
troller of the Currency, November 28, 1863, showed that only 134 national 
banks had been organized up to that date ; but when the act of June 3, 1864, 
went into operation, new banks were formed more frequently. A more rapid 
increase took place after the passage of the act of March 3, 1865, imposing 
a tax of 10 per cent on the circulating notes of State banks. This increase 
was from 638 banks in Januarjr, 1865, to 1513 in October of the same year ; 
with an increase in capital of from -1135,618,874 to $393,187,206; and in 
circulation of from $66,769,375 to $171,321,903. Prior to 1869 national 
banks were required to make their reports on fixed dates, but after March 3, 
1869, they were required by law to make their reports to the Comptroller five 
times a year on some past date fixed upon by the Comptroller. 

National Bank Laws and Regulations. — The national banks are- 
under the supervision of the Comptroller of the Currency, who is appointed 
by the President on the recommendation of the Secretary of the Treasury. 
His salary is $5000 a year. 

A national bank may be organized by any number of persons not less than 
five, on permission of the Comptroller. The capital required is not less than 
$50,000 in any case, and this minimum applies only to towns the popula- 
tion of which does not exceed 6000 ; in cities having a population exceeding 
50,000, the minimum capital is $200,000. For places having a population over 
6000 and not exceeding 50,000, the capital required is $100,000. One half of 
the capital must be paid in before the bank is authorized to begin business, 
and the remainder in installments of not less than 10 per cent on the entire 
amount of the capital, as frequently as one installment at the end of each 
succeeding month from the time it is authorized to begin business. Capital 
stock is divided into shares of $100 each. 

The banks are managed by a board of not less than five directors, chosen 
by the stockholders. Executive officers of the bank — president, vice-presi- 
dent, cashier, and assistant cashier — are chosen by the directors. 

Shareholders are individually liable for the debts, contracts, and engage- 
ments of the bank to the extent of the amount of their stock therein, at the 
par value, in addition to the amount invested in such shares. This is what 
is known as the double liability of shareholders, and is one of the features 
adding to the strength of the system. 

National banks are designated by the Secretary of the Treasury to act 
as depositaries or custodians of public money. Such deposits are secured 
specially by a deposit of United States bonds with the Treasury. 

All national banks before commencing business are required to transfer 
and deliver to the Treasurer of the United States, as security for their cir- 
culating notes, United States registered bonds to an amount not less than 
one fourth the capital where the capital is $150,000 or less, and to the 
amount of $50,000 where the capital is in excess of $150,000. These bonds 
must be taken by the banks whether they issue circulation or not. 

Circulating notes are issued to national banks on a deposit of United 



462 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

States bonds with the Treasurer. Notes are limited to 90 per cent of the 
par value of the bonds, also to 90 per cent of the capital of the bank. They 
are over-secured, and no holder of them has ever lost a dollar by reason of 
the failure of a bank. 

The notes are secured by the government bonds, there being a difference of 
the 10 per cent between the par of the bonds and the notes issued, and the 
bonds nearly always command a premium. They are further secured by the 
first lien on the assets of the bank, including the double liability of share- 
holders, by a 5 per cent redemption fund in the Treasury, and also by the 
margin between the capital and the amount of notes permitted. 

National bank notes are redeemable at the counters of the issuing banks 
and at the Treasury in " lawful money " of the United States. This term, 
as commonly used, means legal-tender money, and in practice, perhaps, gold 
<join or legal-tender notes. 

Eeserves of national banks are the amounts of money kept on hand to pay 
their deposits and current checks and drafts. This reserve is to be kept in 
lawful money, — gold and silver coin or certificates, and United States cur- 
rency certificates or legal-tender notes. There are three central reserve cities, 
namely, New York, Chicago, and St. Louis. National banks in these three 
cities must keep a reserve of 25 per cent against their deposits, and this 
amount must be kept in their own vaults. There are twenty-four other 
reserve cities which are also required to keep a reserve of 25 per cent, but 
one half of that amount may be due from other banks in New York and 
other central reserve cities, approved as reserve agents by the Comptroller of 
the Currency. Banks outside of these reserve cities must keep a reserve of 
15 per cent, three fifths of which may be due from approved reserve agents 
in the reserve cities or central reserve cities. 

In times of panic when there is a run on banks they may use this reserve 
to pay their depositors, and it often happens that the reserve falls below the 
amount required by law. Under such circumstances the Comptroller may 
notify the banks to make good the deficiency; failing to comply with this 
request within thirty days, they may be closed. 

National banks are not permitted to make loans on real estate. The regu- 
lations prescribed by the law for the management of these institutions are 
very stringent, supplemented by a system of examination and reports. 

In 1896 the Comptroller of the Currency estimated that the government 
had made a net profit of $ 157,439,248.98 out of the revenues derived from 
the national banks. It was estimated in the same report that the average 
percentage of dividends paid to creditors of insolvent national banks was 
75 per cent. There have been no losses on circulation. In 1878 the Comp- 
troller estimated that the annual losses upon all the currency issued by State 
and private banks amounted to 5 per cent annually. 

The national banks are not monopolistic. Any body of five reputable citi- 
zens can form one by getting together $ 50,000 capital. The total shares of 
the national banks are approximately 300,000. 

Profits on national bank stock are not exorbitant. For a period of twenty- 
nine years the net earnings on capital and surplus have been only a little 
over 7 per cent. 

Since the establishment of the national banking system 5171 banks have 



PROGRESS IN COINAGE, CURRENCY, AND BANKING 463 

been organized, of which 1224 have gone into liquidation, 368 have become 
insolvent, and 3579 are in operation (February 4, 1899;. 

There is a marked falling off in the number of new national banks organ- 
ized in recent years. In 1890 there were 307 organized, but in 1898 there 
were only 56 organizations reported, and that was the highest number re- 
ported since 1893. The capital of the national bunks is also decreasing, but 
the deposits show a large increase. 

At present the State banks are gaining in numbers more rapidly than the 
national banks. 

Profit on National Bank Circulation. — Many suppose that national 
banks make an undue profit on the privilege they have of issuing notes to 
circulate as money, based on a deposit of bonds with the United States 
treasurer. Official figures disprove this. The total national bank notes out- 




BANK OP ENGLAND. LONDON. 



standing, February 4, 1899, was $203,636,184.50. The law permits these 
banks to issue notes to the extent of 90 per cent of their capital. This capi- 
tal, on February 4, 1899, was f 608,301,245. Therefore they might have had 
notes at issue on that date to the amount of $545,871,120.50, instead of only 
$203,636,184.50. This is conclusive evidence that there is no substantial 
profit in the issuing of such notes. 

In the figures furnished by the Comptroller of the Currency for 1898, he 
shows that the profit which a national bank could make by taking out circu- 
lation on a deposit of $100,000 of United States bonds, on October 31, 1898, 
was less than 1 per cent. On that date eight leading banks had no circu- 
lating notes at all out. The meagre profits of national banks explain why 
they do not supply an adequate paper currency. The restrictions on them 
make it impossible to render any substantial assistance to business in this 
respect. This is especially true in times of panic. Possessing gigantic 
strength, they are compelled to see the industries of the country attacked 
by doubt and distrust, and are unable to go to their aid because of the 
restraints which forbid them to exercise their legitimate functions. 
30 



464 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 



VI. FOREIGN BANKING AND FINANCE. 

Most foreign countries issue metallic money only, except those that are on 
a paper basis. In general the paper currency is issued by banks, many of 
which are more or less remotely associated with the government. Some 
of these banks issue notes on the security of the government or other stocks 
and bonds, while many emit notes based on no special form of security, but 
upon the general assets of the bank. 

As compared with the United States there are but few banks in the prin- 
cipal foreign countries. England. has less than one hundred; Scotland less 
than a dozen ; Canada but thirty-eight chartered banks. As in other foreign 
countries, the Canadian banks have numerous branches affiliated with the 
head office. National banks in the United States are prohibited from having 




GERMAN BANK, BREMEN. 



branches. The Bank of France, the Bank of England, the Imperial Bank of 
Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Bank, the Imperial Bank of Bussia, are all 
more or less intimately associated with their respective governments. 

The Bank of England was incorporated by royal charter, July 27, 1694, its 
incorporators lending £1,200,000 to the government, in return for which the 
Bank was permitted to issue notes to a like amount. It had a practical 
monopoly up to 1826, and even now, it is believed, no bank within a radius 
of 65 miles of London may issue notes. It has suspended specie payments 
more than once. In 1844, the banking and issue departments of the Bank 
were separated. One fifth of the reserve may be silver, though in practice 
the reserve is kept in gold coin and bullion. Its notes are based on gold, 
except £16,800,000, which are secured by the government debt and other 
securities. It is compelled to buy all gold offered at a fixed price, paying for 
it in notes. So it must redeem all notes on demand in gold. When so re- 
deemed they are canceled and, after five years, burned. No notes of a less 



PROGRESS IN COINAGE, CURRENCY, AND BANKING 465 

denomination than five pounds are issued. The Bank checks gold exports by 
raising the rate of discount. The building covers about four acres of ground, 
and employs over eleven hundred persons. It is the keystone of the entire 
system of British credit, and commands the assistance of the Government 
when needed. 

The Scotch banks issue notes on their own credit to the amount outstand- 
ing at the time of the passage of the Bank Act in 1844. Their rate of 
interest is said to be the same at all of their thousand offices. A unique 
feature of the Scotch banking system is that of cash credits, by means of 
which a person of good credit may get his checks cashed without a deposit 
of actual money, the banks simply entering the credits on their books. 

The Bank of France has a monopoly of note issues, charges a premium on 
gold for export, and may redeem its notes in either gold or silver. The Im- 
perial Bank of Germany and a few other German banks issue notes on gold 
and other securities, and further amounts on their general credit. Beyond a 
fixed sum, called the emergency circulation, a tax of five per cent is levied. 
Other European banks are generally modeled on the same leading principle 
— a central bank of issue, with numerous branches, and associated with the 
Government directly or indirectly. The Imperial Bank of Bussia issues 
notes practically covered by gold and redeemable in that coin. Japan tried 
a system of national banks combined with Government paper money, but is 
now substituting a system of bank notes issued by the Bank of Japan. 

VII. UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT DEBT SINCE 1857. 

In 1857 the Government owed only $10,000,000 over and above the cash 
held in the treasury. At the breaking out of the Civil War the debt had 
increased to about $80,000,000. By August 31, 1865, it had increased to 
$2,756,000,000, with an interest charge of $150,000,000. In twenty-eight 
years, down to June 30, 1893, the Government extinguished $1,917,500,000 
of its debt, paid $2,364,000,000 for interest on its debt, and $118,000,000 for 
premium on bonds redeemed, making a grand total of $4,400,000,000, or an 
annual average payment of $157,000,000 for the entire period. 

The rise and fall of the public debt from July 1, 1857, to July 1, 1898, 
appear more fully in the following table. 



Years. 



1857, July 1 

1860, "• 1 

1861, " 1 

1862, " 1 

1863, " 1 

1864, " 1 

1865, August 31.. 

1873, Julvl 

1879, " 1 

1889, " 1. ... 
1893, " 1 

1895, December 1 

1896, July 1 

1897, " 1 

1898, " 1 



Total debt. 



64, 

!M) 
524. 
,119 
.815 
,844 
234, 
245. 
619. 
545 
708. 
769 
,817 
796, 



699,831 
842.287 
580,873 
176,412 
,772,138 
,784,370 
649.626 
482,993 
495,072 
052.922 
985,686 
871.670 
840,323 
672,665 
531,995 



Debt less cash in 
the Treasury. 



$9, 

59. 

87, 

505, 

1,111, 

1,709, 

2.756. 

2,105, 

1,996. 

975 

838 

948. 

955, 

986, 

1,027 



998,621 
964,402 
718,660 
312,752 
350,737 
452,277 
431,571 
462,060 
414,905 
939,750 
969.475 
477,612 
297,253 
656,086 
085,492 



466 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

In 1865 the annual interest charge on the public debt was $150,977,697. 
In 1898 it was only $34,387,408. 

From 1791 to 1898 the gross receipts of the Government were $30,547,- 
063,336.06 and the gross expenditures $29,768,597,237.24. The net ordinary 
receipts, which do not include loans or proceeds from the issue of Treasury 
notes, were $405,321,335.20 for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1898, and the 
net ordinary expenditures, which do not include payments on account of pre- 
miums or interest on the public debt, were $405,783,526.57. 

VIII. POSTAL SAVINGS BANKS. 

Many believe that a system of postal savings banks could be generally 
introduced into the United States. Such banks doubtless appeal to those 
who have more confidence in the Government than in any association of in- 
dividuals. Their safety may be conceded, for when the Government fails 
other institutions are likely to go the same way. But when people deposit 
money in a postal savings bank, they make a loan to the Government. 
This implies that the Government must be a perpetual borrower, whereas, 
until recent years, the United States has been a debt-paying nation, and in 
the course of affairs may soon be again. Unless we are to have a large per- 
manent debt, the deposits in postal savings banks would have to be invested 
in general securities. Such investments could not well be made by the post- 
office officials of the country. 

In Great Britain these banks have been in existence for about thirty-eight 
years, and their number has grown to about 12.000, with more than 6,000,000 
depositors. The system prevails in a number of other countries. The more 
concentrated and paternal system of government prevalent in countries hav- 
ing these banks renders their management a much less difficult problem than 
it would be in the United States with our large areas, vast number of post- 
offices, and general diversity of conditions. In Great Britain the deposits in 
the postal savings banks are made at the money order post-offices in a pass 
book held by the depositor. Withdrawals are made by filling up blank 
forms, and these withdrawals may be made at any money order post-office. 
Deposits are invested in the public debt, and the rate of interest is about two 
and one half per cent. The postal savings banks of Great Britain contain 
deposits approximating $527,000,000 ; those of France, $152,000,000 ; those 
of Italy, $90,000,000; those of Belgium, $67,000,000; those of Canada, 
$31,000,000. 

IX. SAVINGS BANKS IN THE UNITED STATES. 

There are no worthier financial institutions in the country to-day than the 
savings banks. Most of these are organized on what is known as the mutual 
plan. They have no capital, no stockholders, and all the assets are held in 
trust for the benefit of the depositors. They are managed by a board of trus- 
tees, who serve without pay. The investments which the banks are per- 
mitted to make are generally restricted to high-class securities insuring 
safety. The savings banks in New York State, especially, are closely re- 
stricted in investing their funds, and failures in recent years are almost 
unknown. A deposit in one of these banks is hardly less safe than an in- 
vestment in Government bonds. The savings banks are the primary schools 



PROGRESS IN COINAGE, CURRENCY, AND BANKING 



467 



of economy and thrift, and I believe that an extension of the mutual sav- 
ings bank system throughout the country, under proper legal safeguards, 
would be of the greatest benefit to the people of the United States. 

The deposits in banks of this kind are usually limited by law to amounts 
not exceeding $3000 to one depositor, as they are not intended to be used by 
the wealthier class of people. The following statistics will be found inter- 
esting. 

SAVINGS BANKS IN THE UNITED STATES, 1857-1897. 
(Statement of condition for each period of ten years.) 





1857 


1867 


1877 


1887 


1897 




231 

490,428 

$98,512,968 

200 


371 

1,188,202 

$337,009,452 

283 


675 

2,395,314 

$866,218,306 

361 


684 

3,418,013 

$1,235,247,371 

361 


980 


Average to each depositor.. . 


5,201,132 

$1,939,376,035 

372 



In addition to the mutual and stock savings banks in the United States, a 
system of school savings banks, introduced into the schools of the United 
States by J. H. Thiry, of Long Island City, N. Y., is worthy of mention. 
Such banks have been very successful in inculcating habits of thrift and 
economy among the children of the country. 



X. THE CLEARING-HOUSE. 

A clearing-house may be defined as an institution for saving time, money, 
and labor. Its underlying principle is that of setting off one claim against 
another. 

A bank in a large city receives every day in its mail a great number of 
checks or drafts drawn on banks in the same place. It does not present 
these checks directly to the banks on which they are drawn for payment, but 
sends them by messenger to the clearing-house. Let us say, for illustration, 
that the First National Bank presents to the clearing-house checks on other 
banks amounting to $100,000. At the same time the other banks send to the 
clearing-house checks they have received drawn on the First National Bank, 
aggregating $75,000. A payment of $25,000 in money to the First National 
Bank will be all the cash required to pay checks representing $175,000. 
The economy in the use of money is still better illustrated by the following 
statement of an actual transaction. On a day in the latter part of 1898 the 
Bank of the State of New York took to the New York Clearing-House checks 
on other banks amounting to $15,647,583.82, and other banks brought checks 
against it amounting to $15,647,401.85. The sum of these items was $31,- 
294,985.67, and they were paid with $181.97 in money, which represents the 
credit balance due to the Bank of the State of New York. This instance 
shows what large transactions may be effected with small sums of money by 
employing proper banking machinery. Banks multiply the usefulness of 
money many fold. 

The New York Clearing-House Association was organized September 13, 
1853, and the first clearing made by the Association took place on October 11, 



468 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



1853. The banks belonging to the New York Clearing-House Association 
reported on April 1, 1899, loans and discounts, $779,951,100; deposits, $898,- 
917,000; specie, $187,144,300; circulation, $13,870,600. 

Clearing-House Loan Cektificates. — These are simply devices that 
the banks have invented for use in times of panic. They are issued by a 
committee of the Clearing-House Association on the deposit of approved 
securities by the bank desiring them, and are used only to settle balances 




NEW YORK 0T/EA1UNG-HOUSE. 

between the banks. They are not money, but serve a useful purpose in 
diminishing the demand for money ; for when the banks agree to accept 
these certificates among themselves, it makes that much money available to 
be loaned or paid to depositors. In 1893, and in other years of financial 
stringency, the issue of these certificates afforded great relief to business 
interests and saved the country from some of the most disastrous results con- 
sequent upon such panics. 

These certificates are not to be confounded with clearing-house gold certifi- 
cates issued by the Association on deposits of gold coin. They are used in 



PROGRESS IN COINAGE, CURRENCY, AND BANKING 469 

making payments of balances between banks, and obviate the necessity of 
frequently passing the actual coin from hand to hand. 

On April 11, 1898, the clearings at the New York Clearing-House for 
that day amounted to $352,882,567 — the largest amount ever reported up 
to that time. The -balances to be paid in money were $17,345,452, or only 
about five per cent. For the year 1898 the bank clearings at New York were 
$ 41,971,781,684, and for the whole country, $68,750,000,000. 

An investigation of the amount of credit paper used respectively in the 
wholesale and retail trade was made by the Comptroller of the Currency in 
1896. In his report for that year the Comptroller says : " From the face of 
the returns the conclusion to be drawn is that 67.4 per cent of the retail 
trade of the country is transacted by means of credit paper (checks), that 
95.3 per cent of the wholesale trade is so carried on, 95.1 per cent of busi- 
ness other than mercantile, and 92.5 per cent of all business." 

XI. PANICS AND THEIR CAUSES. 

A panic is generally due to inflation and speculation, and these, of course, 
have their origin in various sources not easily determined. An unusual in- 
crease in the production of precious metals, bountiful crops, a speculative 
craze taking possession of the public — such as the tulip mania in Holland — 
all these and many other causes lead to speculation. The fall in prices due 
to a stoppage in speculation brings on the panic. Sometimes the catastrophe 
is produced by war or rumors of war, often by the most trivial circumstances, 
and not infrequently without any apparent cause. Before everybody had 
desired to buy ; they now became as eager to sell, and this rush to convert 
securities and commodities into money precipitates a panic. 

Crises may be divided into commercial and financial. The last one in the 
United States, whatever may have been its ultimate developments, was in its 
inception and culmination essentially a financial panic. The Treasury and 
the banks were both regarded with more or less distrust. 

Panics or crises more or less severe have occurred in the United States in 
1814, 1818, 1826, 1837-39, 1848, 1857, during the Civil War, 1861-65, 1873, 
1882, 1884, 1890, 1893. Some of these should hardly be called panics, as 
they were mere local disturbances. Different causes have been given for 
each of these revulsions. Overtrading and speculation were doubtless re- 
sponsible for them. The panic of 1857 was coincident with large net imports 
of merchandise. On August 24, 1857, the onward wave of prosperity, which 
had been steadily rising to a great height, received a check by the failure of 
the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Co., followed by numerous other failures. 
On October 4 every bank in New York, except the Chemical, suspended 
specie payments, and they did not resume until December 12. 

The speculation in gold in 1869 culminated in what is known as the Black 
Friday panic, September 24, 1869. Fiske and Gould were conducting a specu- 
lation in gold, and sought to corner it. They forced the price up to a high 
figure, but the Government suddenly appeared as a seller of gold and broke 
the " corner." 

The year 1873 witnessed another revulsion of confidence and another dis- 
ruption of the commercial and financial affairs of the country. Business had 
long been unduly expanded, and the collapse finally came. The failure, on 



470 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

September 18, of the honored firm of Jay Cooke & Co., which had not only 
been identified with the building of the Northern Pacific E. R. but had been 
a strong supporter of the credit of the Government when it was in the direst 
distress, was the first bad news. House after house fell. The Stock Ex- 
change closed its doors on September 20, and did not reopen them until 
September 30. More than fifty Stock Exchange firms suspended, and several 
of the leading banking institutions of New York and other cities had to stop 
business. 

During this panic the New York Clearing-House Association issued clear- 
ing-house certificates to those of its members who needed available funds, 
and during the trouble issued $24,915,000 of them. In May, 1884, it issued 
$24,915,000 ; in the 1890 panic, $16,645,000 ; in 1893, $41,490,000. 

Following the resumption of specie payments the times were good for 
several years. The production of the precious metals was averaging $75,- 
000,000 or more per year. From 1879 to 1883 we imported about $190,000,- 
000 of gold. Railroad construction reached a higher point than was ever 
recorded, either before or since, nearly 40,000 miles of track having been 
laid in five years. All seemed well, when another collapse came in May, 
1884. This was preceded by the failure of Grant & Ward, and it was fol- 
lowed by the failure of the Marine and the Metropolitan Banks. The dis- 
closures of bad faith on the part of men occupying positions of great trust, 
made the 1884 panic one of distinct characteristics of its own. The previous 
activity in all lines of enterprise may have made the revulsion timely, but 
individual dishonesty greatly aggravated the situation. 

The panic of 1890, in the United States, was but a reflection of the great 
Baring failure in London in the fall of that year. This crash was due to 
South American speculations, and was one of the greatest failures of modern 
times. It is the opinion of many well-informed financiers that this was one 
of the causes which operated to produce the panic of 1893 in the United 
States. The course of the United States in regard to the purchase of silver, 
doubts as to the tariff, deficiency in revenues — all, perhaps, had their share 
in creating distrust. But back of these were the conditions superinduced by 
an era of inflation and speculation. The 1893 panic bore most heavily upon 
the banks. There was a continued demand upon the Treasury for gold, and 
the deposits in banks were withdrawn so rapidly that hundreds of failures 
ensued. The period of depression continued for nearly three years, and has 
been succeeded by an era of general prosperity, which it is hoped may be 
long continued. 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN FRUIT CULTURE 

By H. E. VAN DEMAN, 

Late Prof, of Horticulture, Kansas State Agricultural College. 

Prom the earliest histories of civilization we learn that the cultivation of 
fruits has been a delightful pastime and also a substantial means of living. 
Their tempting colors, fragrant perfumes and luscious flavors are unequaled 
in combined attractiveness and satisfaction to the human senses by anything 
else among all the products of nature. Their juices are at once appetizing, 
nutritious, and wholesome. Millions of people have subsisted upon them 
largely, from time out of mind. 

It is, therefore, not a matter of wonder that our forefathers, when they 
came to the shores of this New World, brought with them seeds, cuttings, 
and plants of the best fruits they had at their old homes. Thus it was that 
the apple, pear, peach, plum, cherry, grape, olive,, date, almond, European 
walnut and chestnut, and many other less valuable fruits were first culti- 
vated in North America. 

The Beginning. — Previous to the beginning of the nineteenth century 
there had been considerable development in fruit culture in the colonies. 
Small apple orchards were quite common in the settlements, from New Eng- 
land to the Carolinas. The pear, peach, plum, grape, and a few other fruits 
were cultivated in less degree. The Spanish had introduced the peach and 
orange in Florida, and the Erench had planted the grape and pear in their 
sparse settlements in the Mississippi Valley and near the Great Lakes. 
There are to-day, and yet in a healthy condition, near Detroit, Michigan, 
several immense pear-trees from these first plantings, that are nearly three 
hundred years old. The Catholic fathers planted the vine and the olive, and 
occasionally the date palm, at their mission stations along the Rio Grande 
and on the Pacific coast. 

Thus we see that when the year 1800 ushered in the century now closing, 
there were many feeble beginnings in the way of fruit culture scattered over 
the Continent. The Indians, contrary to what we might have supposed, 
helped materially in the distribution of some of the orchard fruits. In 
1799, when General Sullivan made his famous raid against the tribes which 
composed the historic "Six nations," he found bearing apple orchards in 
Western New York. In Southern Canada and Michigan the Indians occa- 
sionally planted the apple and pear. The tribes living along the Gulf of 
Mexico had peach-trees in their little cultivated patches, having obtained 
the seeds from the Spaniards ; and to-day we find the descendants of these 
Spanish or "Indian" peaches commonly grown throughout all the Southern 
States, and to some extent all over the peach-growing sections of America. 

The Experimental Stage. — During the life of the generation which 
existed for the first thirty or more years of the century the culture of fruits 
was still principally in the experimental stage. Some of the foreign species 
and varieties had not proved satisfactory, and they were being critically 



472 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

tested or abandoned. New varieties were being originated on our own soil. 
Our native fruits were being brought under culture, too, and with the most 
satisfactory results in many cases. It was learned that we had in them the 
foundation of almost unlimited development. Their progeny has revolution- 
ized some lines of fruit culture. This is especially true in our vineyards and 
berry-fields. 

There were men of noble and patriotic cast of mind, who devoted their 
lives to the development of this lovely and wholly humane work. They 
deserve to rank beside the heroes of our battlefields. Their victories were 
those of peace, and were followed by an increase of the delightful products 
of the orchard, vineyard, and garden. 

Once that our forefathers were free from the bondage of European greed, 
this art of peace kept pace with our civilization on other lines. There is 
nothing in the whole list of our scientific attainments or material industries 
that can show more substantial progress. Nor is there a nation on earth 
that has so rich, varied, and adaptable soils, together with climatic conditions 
so admirably and generally suited to fruit culture ; nor a people more alive 
to their opportunities in this direction. 

The Age of Progress. — During the generation of fruit growers who lived 
from about 1830 until the time of the Civil War, the region lying between 
the Alleghany Mountains and the Missouri River, and extending from the 
Ottawa River in Canada to the mountains of Tennessee, which is now the 
great apple bin of America, as well as its granary, was being rapidly filled 
with energetic settlers. These pioneers carried with them carefully selected 
seeds, cuttings, and trees of the best varieties of fruits known in their Eastern 
and Southern homes. These were planted in the rich, virgin soil of the new 
territory, which was then known as " The West.'* Under the happy influ- 
ences of a congenial climate and careful cultivation, they developed into 
fruitful orchards and vineyards, yielding finer specimens, and, in some cases, 
larger crops than had ever been known in the older parts of the country. 
This gave a great impetus to the culture of fruits. The first large com- 
mercial orchards of the apple, peach, and pear in the central United States 
were then being planted in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. 

The South had not yet awakened to a knowledge of her possibilities in 
fruit culture. Under slave labor the land was almost solely given up to 
cotton and tobacco. Florida had not then even dreamed of her wonderful 
developments in orange culture. In Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Texas, and 
the great Northwest, where now there are fruit plantations of almost unpar- 
alleled extent, only the first trees and plants were being set, and it was only 
thought possible that some day fruits could be produced in abundance there. 
The Rocky Mountain and Pacific States had scarcely been heard of, even as 
Territories, and only an occasional plantation of vines and trees around some 
mission station could be found. 

The Age of Triumph. — At the close of the Civil War, which had some- 
what distracted the attention of our people both North and South from the 
progress of the peaceful arts, there was a great expansion of our rural popu- 
lation. The love of travel had taken possession of many who had been in 
the armies. They were no longer content with the narrow boundaries and 
the poor lands of the old Eastern farms. They wanted new fields for their 




COCOANUT TKEE, PALM BEACH. FLA. 



474 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

energies. The building of the great railroad systems across the continent 
solved the question of the settlement of the " Far West," and the mythical 
" American Desert " that was supposed to lie this side of it. The prairies 
were covered with homesteaders' shanties, sod houses, and " dug-outs." The 
forests of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, and Arkansas fell be- 
fore the axe of the pioneer. The " Boys in Blue " who had seen the natural 
advantages of the Southern States, while there on the dread errand of war, 
began the rehabilitation of the country they had helped to devastate. They 
took with them their Yankee notions and Western vim, and planted many 
kinds of farm crops, trees, vines, and berry bushes upon the old plantations 
where little else than cotton and tobacco used to grow. Florida was veri- 
tably turned into a garden of orange trees and truck patches. The chocolate 
hills and rich black lands of Texas were planted to grapes, peaches, and 
berries. The dry plains and mesas of the Rocky Mountain region, that 
were naturally almost devoid of vegetation, were irrigated and made to pro- 
duce the most delightful fruits in abundance. The giant forests of Oregon 
and Washington were invaded by the lumberman and the homeseeker, and in 
their stead were planted trees which yielded the largest and best of fruits. 
And California, — what shall we say of her wonderful valleys, grassy foot- 
hills, and timbered mountain slopes ? All of the fruits of the temperate 
zones are growing there, and in some places the hardier of the tropical kinds 
succeed. California is indeed a land of fruits. 

Taking the whole of North America, except the frozen regions of the 
British possessions, and Alaska, where few cultivated fruits can be grown ; 
and half-civilized Mexico, where progress is scarcely known ; the last thirty- 
five years have witnessed such advancements in fruit culture as seem almost 
beyond belief. It has truly been an age of triumph. Not only has the terri- 
tory of its successful culture been wonderfully extended, but the whole plan 
and science of fruit-growing has been almost revolutionized. Old things 
have largely passed away. New varieties, new methods of culture and new 
markets for the products of the fruit farm have been found. Some of the 
old varieties have been retained, but many new ones have been originated 
here ; some by chance and others by scientific breeding. Valuable kinds 
that had long been lying in obscurity have been brought into public favor. 
Others have been imported from foreign countries. Almost the entire world 
has been ransacked in order to obtain fruits that might prove of value to us. 

At the beginning of this period of unparalleled progress the experiments- 
of former years had shown the success or failure of the different species and 
varieties already in cultivation in many parts of the country ; and now, at 
its close, after nearly forty years more of experience, there is scarcely a sec- 
tion within the entire domain of North American fruit culture where it is- 
not quite well known what is and what is not adapted to each locality. 

The methods of culture are changed from the old ones, which were largely 
those practiced in Europe, to such as have been evolved by the peculiar 
necessities of our soil, climate, and varieties. This is esj)ecialry true of our 
vineyards ; for, except on the Pacific slope, where the foreign grapes succeed, 
our native vines require much less severe pruning, and a much more roomy 
trellis upon which to grow than those old kinds. The first vineyards were 
planted very thickly and trained by the stake method, which is the French 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN FRUIT CULTURE 475 

.and German style. I remember working in such vineyards just prior to 
1870, and of seeing the dwarfing and dwindling effect upon the vines. No- 
thing of the kind is now seen this side the Rocky Mountains, because our 
American grapes will not endure such treatment and continue to bear well. 

Horse culture has in a great measure succeeded hand culture. Without 
such a change it would be impossible to profitably cultivate the vast stretches 
of orchards, vineyards, and berry-fields that are to-day found in many parts 
of the country. The common plow and harrow were about the oidy tools 
available thirty or forty years ago. They are now supplemented, and in 
some cases superseded, by various kinds of cultivators, weeders, and im- 
proved plows and harrows. They are made to carry out the modern idea of 
frequent but shallow stirring of the soil. This method of culture disturbs 
the roots but little and retains the moisture in the soil, by keeping the 
surface finely pulverized, thus forming a "dust mulch." Some of these tools 
are so made as to enable one man with one horse to easily cultivate twenty- 
five acres per day, and with a two or three horse implement, to thoroughly 
pulverize the surface over fifty or more acres in that time. 

The tendency during the last half century has been towards heading 
orchard trees lower. The old style was to have them with trunks so tall 
that a horse could walk under the branches. Low heads have the advantage 
of giving the winds less purchase upon the roots, the fruit is more easily 
gathered, and the sun is less likely to scald the trunks. 

The old idea of our forefathers was, that apples were chiefly to be used for 
making cider, peaches for brandy, and grapes for wine. We have become a 
nation of fruit-eaters, as compared with our predecessors and the Europeans. 
The greatest impetus ever given to American fruit culture came from the 
increased demand in our own country for fresh fruit. It is a staple article of 
diet here, rather than a luxury, as it is in most parts of Europe. Nearly all 
of our fresh fruits are consumed in the homes of our people, or exported. 
A very little is made into cider, brandy, or wine, and the larger part of 
the remainder is dried or canned. The proportion of grapes made into wine 
east of California is trifling, while there it is considerable. The enormous 
production and consumption of berries of various kinds by the Americans is 
unparalleled in the history of the world; and nearly all of this has come 
through the development of our wild berries. 

Instead of buying largely of foreign fruits and their products, except such 
as are strictly tropical and cannot be grown within our borders only in a 
limited way, we have nearly stopped their importation, and have, in turn, 
become exporters. The rapid increase in our population demands more and 
more fruit, and it is not to be wondered at that our imports of oranges and 
lemons is increasing ; but if it was not for our home production of these 
fruits the present amount would be more than doubled. Our raisins and 
dried prunes have almost driven out the foreign products, and their quality 
is so good that there is a growing demand for them in England and some 
other foreign countries. The same is true of our canned and preserved fruits. 
Our apples bring the highest price of any that reach the markets of Europe, 
and the demand for them is increasing. Eresh pears and peaches have also 
been sent to England in limited quantities from as far west as California and 
Oregon. Our oranges also have an enviable reputation there because of their 



476 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

beauty and delicious flavor. Our apples are sent to Mexico, China, and 
Japan. The street venders of Bombay, India, cry their sale with great gusto: 
" American apples ! true American apples ! " and sell them at a price which 
would require more than a whole day's wages of a good workman to buy a. 
single one. 

The world is beginning to know the value and goodness of our fruits. We 
are selling, inside their dainty skins, a portion of our sunshine and water; 
for the golden, pink, and crimson tints are from the glowing sun, and the 
water, which is the main part of all fruits, is fresh from nature's fountain. 

Growth of Apple Culture. — From the first settlement of the country 
well into the present century, the principal purpose for which apples were 
cultivated in America was to make cider. This was a common beverage in 
England and on the continent of Europe, whence our forefathers came. 
Here they introduced the Old World custom of drinking hard cider " in sea- 
son and out of season." In 1721. in one "town" near Boston, wherein lived 
about forty families, there were made in one year three thousand barrels of 
cider, and in another of two hundred families, near ten thousand barrels. 
This is fifty barrels to the family, which seems ample for a great many 
drinks per day for each person, with plenty left to sell to the cider-loving 
citizens of Boston. Colonel John Taylor of Virginia wrote, in 1813, nearly 
one hundred years later : " The apple will furnish some food for hogs, a 
luxury for the family in winter, and a healthy liquor for the farmer and his 
laborers all the year." 

But hard cider did not always satisfy. " Applejack," which is the strong- 
est kind of brandy, suited the taste of many of the old-fashioned folk much 
better. The Virginia gentleman, the Dutch burgher, whose ample acres 
fronted upon the Hudson, the solemn Philadelphia Quaker and the staid 
Puritan of New England, all loved their dram and took it frequently. 

Besides alcoholic liquors, vinegar was made in considerable quantities. 
But as late as the middle of this century there was scarcely a good family 
apple orchard to be found, such as we now have, with varieties arranged to 
ripen from early to late. Nor were there many commercial orchards of con- 
sequence. The famous orchard of Robert L. Pell, in Ulster County, New 
York, was a remarkable exception. It consisted of 20,000 trees, all of the 
Yellow and Green Newtown apples. Fruit from this orchard sold at whole- 
sale in London, England, in 1845, at the enormous price of $ 21.00 per barrel, 
but the next year the price had fallen to $6.00 in New York city, ready for 
foreign shipment. This orchard gradually fell into decay, and was not soon 
followed by others of so large acreage. The Newtown apple proved unsuitable 
for general culture, and is now grown only in two localities with much suc- 
cess. In the mountain "coves," or sheltered slopes and valleys, of the Blue 
Bidge, in Virginia and North Carolina, where it is called " Albemarle Pip- 
pin," there are many orchards that produce as fine fruit as any from the Pell 
orchard, and it now sells from $5.00 to $12.00 and more per barrel in Eng- 
land. In the higher foothills of California and Oregon this variety does 
equally well, and apples from there are being sold in England during this 
closing period of the century at almost fabulous prices. 

In the old days, if an orchard furnished an abundance of apples for cider, 
brandy, vinegar, apple butter, some for drying, and a few of fair quality that 
would keep for winter use, it was all that was expected. 



478 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

Most of the trees in those old orchards were inferior seedlings, and it is 
no wonder that the people of those days did not nse apples as we do. A few 
of them were very good, and it is from such chance favorites that we have 
preserved to us, by grafting, the Baldwin W-inesap and hundreds more that fill 
our orchards to-day. We have developed a new race of American seedlings. 
Most of the old varieties that were so highly esteemed across the ocean are 
now rarely mentioned. Our newer and better kinds have largely supplanted 
them. As time advanced more choice varieties were added, until we may now 
confidently boast of having the best apples in existence. Whoever has eaten 
our delicious Grimes Golden, Jonathan, and Northern Spy, need not look for 
better kinds, because they cannot now be found. Indeed, the name " Seek- 
no-farther " has been triumphantly applied to one variety. However, we are 
still seeking and expecting to produce by skillful breeding, if not to find, 
others which may be even better than those we now possess. 

A history of the recognized and named varieties of apples of American 
origin would be a book in itself. It should begin almost with the first settle- 
ment of the country. At the beginning of this century the Early Harvest, 
Baldwin, Swaar, Esopus Spitzenberg, Rhode Island Greening, Yellow Bell- 
flower, and a few others which are yet popular, were already grafted into 
hundreds of orchards, some of them being as far west as the Mississippi 
River. William Coxe, in his excellent book on fruits, published in 1817, men 
tions 100 kinds. William Prince, of Long Island, who kept the first nursery 
of note, had 116 varieties of apples in his published list in 1825, of which 
about half were of American origin. Now there are nearly 1000 kinds offered 
by the nurserymen of the country, and the books on pomology contain nearly 
5000 varieties, a large part of them being American. Truly this is progress. 

We have the best and by far the most extensive apple country in the 
world. The largest apple orchards in the world are in America. The biggest 
of all belongs to E. Wellhouse & Son, of Kansas, in which there are 1600 
acres. There are others in Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Colorado, and New Mex- 
ico that are nearly as large. 

The variety principally grown in these orchards is the Ben Davis. It is 
a thrifty, rugged grower, a most productive bearer, and a handsome apple 
to sell. Its brilliant red stripes, large size, and ability to keep, make up for 
its deficiency in flavor. It is, to-day, the business apple of America. Bald- 
win is the business apple of the Eastern States. Both these varieties are 
well known in every market of this country, and wherever 'our apples are 
exported. 

The first government record of exported apples was in 1821, when " 68,643 
bushels," or about 22,781 barrels of apples, were sent abroad. In 1897 there 
were 2,371,143 barrels exported, which is the largest quantity ever shipped 
to foreign countries in one year. During the same year there were also 
exported nearly 31,000,000 pounds of dried apples, 94,000 gallons of vinegar, 
and 750,000 gallons of cider. Certainly this is a good showing for the sur- 
plus products of American apple orchards. The year 1898 gave a lighter 
yield, but 1899 will, perhaps, about equal it. 

The Pear. — Whoever has eaten a delicious little Seckel pear must know 
that its equal in richness and spicy flavor is not to be found. This little gem 
is one of the triumphs of American fruit culture. How far beyond and 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN FRUIT CULTURE 479 

above the old " choke " pear of our grandfathers' days is this one, and many 
more of the delicious pears that grow in our orchards and gardens to-day ! 

Pear growing was only a side issue until lately. A few trees were planted 
about our forefathers' houses or in the edge of the apple orchards ; but 
these were often sprouts from some neighbor's seedling trees. As the appe- 
tite for good fruit increased, the false idea that pears should be ground and 
pressed into cider, called perry, decreased, until now no one thinks of wast- 
ing this delicious fruit by making it into an intoxicating drink. 

The Bartlett is our most popular pear of good quality. It originated in 
Berkshire, England, about 1770, where it was called Williams. When 
brought to America early in this century and planted at Dorchester, Mass., 
the original name was lost, and it was renamed in honor of Enoch Bartlett, 
who first propagated and distributed the trees and grafts. The old tree, from 
which came the millions that have been and are now a source of delight and 
profit to our people, is still in bearing condition at Dorchester, and I have 
lately eaten as good Bartlett pears from it as ever were grown. The variety 
flourishes better in America than in its old home, and every year large ship- 
ments of the fruit are sent to England and sold at a very high price. 

Some fifty years ago there were brought from China seeds of a type of a 
pear that was entirely new to this country, and was called by us the " Sand " 
pear. The only apparent reason for giving it this name is, that it is gritty, 
hard, and little better to eat than so much sand. But the seeds made trees 
that grew with remarkable vigor and were much alike, and so was their 
fruit. 

From this stock came up a seedling some thirty years ago, in the garden of 
Peter Kieffer, in Philadelphia, that has almost revolutionized pear growing 
in America. It is supposed to be the result of a cross between a Chinese 
Sand pear-tree and a Bartlett that stood near each other, although this is 
mere supposition. The fruit is only of medium quality, and some say it is 
very poor ; but it is large, very beautiful when fully mature, late in ripening, 
and endures rough handling with as little harm as so many potatoes. It is 
very popular with the canners. The greatest point in Its favor is the free- 
dom of the tree from blight, its vigor and almost never-failing and abundant 
bearing. It is the business pear of to-day, despite its inferior quality. 

The Peach. ■ — When the peach was first planted in America by the Span- 
ish and French, and later by other nationalities, there was little thought of 
it ever becoming a great commercial fruit. The trees that sprang from the 
seeds brought across the ocean grew so luxuriantly and bore so abundantly 
that their progeny was soon scattered far and wide. Peach trees were early 
found growing wild, like our native trees, wherever seeds had been dropped 
by travelers or hunters. There was no attempt at commercial peach orchard- 
ing until well into the present century, and for the first half of this there 
were scarcely more than a few seedling orchards planted for family use or for 
making brandy. In some sections dried peaches were an article of trade 
before any commercial peach orchards, in the true sense, had been planted ; 
but they were always the product of women's work, and were prepared under 
the disadvantageous conditions with which they are usually hampered. It is 
no wonder that the grade was low, for the peaches were generally of poor 
quality, and no other mode of drying was then known than on boards and 
31 



480 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 

wooden trays, exposed in the open air to flies, moths, and dust. All that was 
sent to market was first taken in at the stores where the country people came 
to trade, and it was a mixed mess, indeed, that was thus collected. What 
fresh peaches were sold brought a very low price, rarely more than twenty- 
five cents per bushel. 

Early in the century budded peach-trees were almost unknown in America. 
A few were brought over from France and the fruit houses of England, all of 
which did very well here. However, it was soon learned that there were 
seedlings of American origin that were equal to the best of the foreign 
kinds. Among the first of these were Heath, Early York, Tillotson, and 
Oldmixon Cling and Free. A little later, two large yellow freestones came 
up by accident on the premises of William Crawford, of Middletown, N. J., 
one ripening early and the other late. Early Crawford and Late Crawford 
are, after more than sixty years of trial, still very popular upon the markets. 
Many other kinds, once popular, have long since been discarded and for- 
gotten. 

Just before our Civil War the Hale peach was discovered and, being earlier 
than any kind then known, it became very popular. About 1865, the Ams- 
den, Alexander, and some others came to notice. They were a month earlier 
than the Hale. A peach, called Peen-to, was imported from southern China 
about the same time, that ripened still a month earlier ; but as it belonged 
to a very different race from our other peaches, and was exceedingly tender, 
it has been found suitable only to Florida and other semitropical regions. 

The most popular peach of the present day is the Elberta. It was origi- 
nated by Samuel H. Rumph, of Georgia, about twenty years ago. Its large 
size, creamy, yellow color, and good flavor, added to its productiveness, make 
it very acceptable to both grower and consumer. 

The most extensive peach orchards in America are located in Georgia, 
North Carolina, Southern Missouri, Western Colorado, and California. A 
few are each more than a thousand acres in extent. 

The advent of patent evaporating machines, about 1870, aided greatly in 
the production of high grade dried fruits of all kinds, and the peach shared 
in the progress. California and Oregon alone shipped in a single recent year 
nearly 40,000,000 pounds of dried peaches. The peach is canned more than 
any other fruit, as may be seen upon the shelves of any grocery store, or in 
the fruit closets of the country housewives. Whether eaten fresh from the 
trees, served up with cream and sugar (a dainty dish unknown in Europe), 
evaporated or canned, the peach is one of the blessings of our great country. 

The Plum. — There are three general classes of plums grown in America 
to-da}', the European, American, and Japanese. European plums were intro- 
duced here at an early day, but were grown very sparingly until within the 
last thirty or forty years. The principal reason for this is the presence of a 
deadly enemy to the plum, apricot, and some other fruits, commonly known 
as the plum curculio. It is a little enemy but a mighty one ; for it deposits 
its eggs in the young fruit, and they soon hatch into little grubs that work 
their way into the fruit and cause it to die and drop off. West of the Conti- 
nental divide there are none of these insects. There the soil, climate, and 
all else seem to conspire to enable the plum-grower to prosper. Great prune 
orchards are planted in the fertile valleys from New Mexico and Colorado 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN FRUIT CULTURE 481 

westward. Some of them cover thousands of acres in a body, and the yield 
is enormous. The rainless autumns of California permit the drying of the 
fruit in the open air and in the most economical and perfect way. From an 
infant industry twenty years ago it has now grown so great that, in 1897, 
California alone produced nearly 98,000,000 pounds of dried prunes. Oregon, 
Washington, Idaho, and some other western States are almost equally well 
suited to this industry. 

East of the Rocky Mountains plum-growing is not so easy. The curculio 
damages all classes of plums to some extent, but the European kinds seem 
to be much less able to endure its attacks than any other. This led to the 
selection and cultivation of the best varieties of our several native species. 
Their fruit is not so large or so richly flavored as some of the foreign kinds, 
but much of it is very good, and the brilliant red, purple, and yellow colors 
are greatly admired. The Japanese plums are of quite recent introduction. 
The beginning was in 1870, when the Kelsey, which is the largest, the latest 
to ripen, and about one of the least valuable varieties of this class was 
brought to California. Later importations have brought us many very valu- 
able kiuds. The trees bear well, the fruit is mostly large, handsome, of good 
quality, and resists the stings of the curculio quite as well as our native 
kinds. 

One of the most interesting and promising steps in plum-growing is only 
beginning to be made, in the crossing of the three classes named. The most 
skillful and patient worker in this field is Luther Burbank, of California, 
who has already produced, by artificially pollenizing the flowers, some most 
excellent varieties. Some of these new varieties are larger than any plums 
ever before seen, delicious in flavor, and blood-red to the stone. 

The Cherry. — Away back in the history of our country, cherry trees 
were planted here and there, but only for family use. The list of varieties 
was meagre. Most of them were sour, bitter, or small. Now we have hun- 
dreds of named varieties and of all grades of color, from creamy yellow to 
black, and both sweet and sour, early and late. 

In Washington, Oregon, and California the cherry does better than in any 
of the regions farther East. The first cherries of the season to ripen are in 
the famous Vaca Valley of California, and sometimes shipments from there 
reach New York as early as April 1. The largest cherry trees in America 
are found in the foot-hill regions of Pennsylvania and Virginia. Trees are 
sometimes seen there that have trunks three feet in diameter, with a spread 
of branches of more than fifty feet. Such trees sometimes yield more than 
fifty bushels of fruit at a time. 

The Apricot. — All over the Eastern and Central States the apricot is 
almost an entire failure because of the ravages of the plum curculio. After 
many years of trial its culture there has been almost abandoned, except by 
those who are willing to follow the jarring of the trees to catch the insects. 
Across the Continental divide, where this enemy does not exist, the apricot 
flourishes as well or better than anywhere else in the world. It is one of 
the profitable fruits from western Colorado to the shores of the Pacific. 
California dried and sent to market in one year over 30,000,000 pounds. 
There is also a great amount of apricots canned there every year, a large 
part of which are shipped all over the world. 



482 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

The Quince. — Although sour and unfit for eating from the hand, the 
quince is one of our most delicious fruits when cooked. No store of sweet- 
meats is complete without a generous supply of quince jelly. This fruit 
delights in a moist soil and a cool but not severe climate. However, it suc- 
ceeds very well over the main part of North America. Almost every home 
plot has a tree or two. In western New York many commercial quince 
orchards have been planted within the last twenty-five years, some of them 
being of forty acres in extent. 

American Grape Culture. — In no department of American pomology 
has there been more remarkable advancement than in grape-growing. It was 
the belief of those who first began to grow fruits here, that the grapes of 
Canaan, Persia, Greece, and Rome, which were brought down through the 
ages to the vineyards of modern Europe, would grow equally well in America. 
One great reason for this belief was the abundance of wild grapes of many 
kinds that were found from Nova Scotia to Texas. 

One of the first things the pioneers of civilization did in New England, at 
Roanoke Island, and at Jamestown, was to make wine of the native grapes. 
The Spaniards in 1564 also made wine of the wild grapes of Florida. After 
testing the wine and finding it inferior to that produced in their old homes, 
they were more determined to grow vineyards of the choicest grapes of 
Europe. The French established a vineyard of this kind in Virginia, and 
another in southern Illinois ; and William Penn did the same near Phila- 
delphia in 1683. The most notable attempt that was made was b t y John 
James Dufour, a native of Switzerland. He came to America in 1796, and 
at once set about doing the wisest thing that he could have done, by first 
visiting and critically examining the vineyards that had already been started. 
He was not favorably impressed by what he saw, for the European vines had 
done very poorly, because of some unknown disease or weakness that seemed 
to cause them to make but feeble growth, or gradually dwindle and die. The 
cause has since been found to have been the fungus diseases and insect pests 
that are peculiar to the eastern half of America. But Dufour thought the 
right varieties had not been tried, except a few that he found near Philadel- 
phia. From these he secured a start, and in 1799 organized a stock com- 
pany with $10,000 in capital, to plant a vineyard, Henry Clay being one of 
the stockholders. A tract of 633 acres was selected near Lexington, Ky., 
and there he began work in the most enthusiastic manner. He induced two 
of his brothers to come from Switzerland to join him. and they brought other 
varieties of their best grapes. But after three years' trial he gave it up as 
a hopeless effort and turned his attention to the cultivation of our native 
grapes. 

The beginning of successful grape culture in America may be said to have 
been made by Dufour, in his next or second attempt, which was in 1802, at 
Vevay, Ind., on the banks of the Ohio, and with a variety of the wild Vitis 
labrusca, or fox grape, found near the Schuylkill River before the Revolu- 
tionary War. It was at first called the " Cape " grape, from a mistaken 
notion that it had been brought from the Cape of Good Hope. It was also 
known by several other names. Although this grape was the first of a very 
long list of native varieties which have made our country famous in grape 
culture, it has long since been entirely abandoned for better kinds. But the 



484 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

vineyard at Vevay, planted largely of this variety, was the first really suc- 
cessful one in America. 

The next forward step was the introduction of the Isabella and Catawba, 
both having originated in America, not long previous to 1820, although of 
unknown parentage ; but, perhaps, as the results of accidental crossing be- 
tween our native wild grapes and some of the foreign kinds. The Isabella 
is supposed to have originated in South Carolina, and was brought from there 
by Mrs. Isabella Gibbs and planted in her garden in Brooklyn, N. Y., where 
it came to the notice of William R. Prince in 1816, when in full bearing. 
He named it Isabella in her honor, and introduced it to the general public. 

The Catawba is supposed to have originated as a seedling near the Catawba 
River, in North Carolina, but was not generally known until Major John 
Adlum, of the District of Columbia, found it in bearing on the premises of 
Mrs. Scholl, a tavern keeper of Clarksburgh, Md. He was at once delighted 
with its good qualities, and planted it in his experiment grounds at George- 
town in 1819, and introduced it to the fruit-loving public soon after. 

The next impetus to grape culture was caused by the introduction of the 
Delaware and Concord. The exact origin of the Delaware is not known, but 
it came to public notice about 1855, through the efforts of Mr. A. Thomson 
and George W. Campbell, of Delaware, 0. It was learned afterwards that 
the same variety was growing in 1850, in the garden of a Swiss immigrant, 
Paul H. Provost, at Frenchtown, X. J. It may be that it originated at this 
place from a chance seed, and that cuttings were thence carried to Ohio. 
It is evidently a cross between the foreign species and one of our natives, 
and is to-day about the best of all the grapes grown in the Eastern States. 

The Concord is a pure native seedling, produced by Ephraim W. Bull, of 
Concord, Mass., and first shown to the public at Boston in 1853. It has 
proved itself to be the greatest blessing of all grapes that have ever been 
grown in America. Its thriftiness and reliability under all circumstances 
are unequaled. It is not only good in itself, but it has been the parent of a 
race of seedlings which have filled our vineyards, gardens, and markets with 
the most delicious grapes, and at a very slight cost of labor or money. Who- 
ever gathers or buys a basket of blue-black Concord or Worden, purple 
Brighton or opal Niagara, should render a silent thank-offering to the 
memory of Ephraim W. Bull, who made their existence a possibility. 

The first commercial vineyard of importance was planted by Nicholas 
Longworth, on the hills overlooking the Ohio River, about ten miles below 
Cincinnati, and it was largely of Catawba. Many others followed his exam- 
ple, and from about 1830 to 1860 so great an interest was shown that the 
hills bordering the Ohio for many miles were dotted with vineyards. But 
mildew and black rot devastated them and almost destroyed their usefulness. 
These diseases are now largely overcome by spraying with a solution of 
sulphate of copper. 

In northern Ohio, about Cleveland and Sandusky, and on the islands near 
the southern shore of Lake Erie, the Catawba was planted with much better 
success, owing, perhaps, to the climate not being so favorable to grape dis- 
eases. The lake region of western New York is perhaps more densely 
planted with grapes than any section east of California. Thousands of car- 
loads of grapes of high quality are shipped from there every year. The 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN FRUIT CULTURE 485 

Southern States have awakened somewhat to the importance of grape culture. 
Some of the poorest sandy lands of North Carolina and Florida have been 
planted to vines and found to produce, when fertilized, excellent grapes. 
Texas is also a most productive grape region. Their earliness causes them 
to find a ready market in the North. 

But in all of North America there is no section where the grape flourishes 
with such wonderful success as in California and other regions beyond the 
Rocky Mountains. There the tenderest and most delicious of all the grapes 
of France, Italy, Persia, and Palestine ripen their luscious clusters beneath 
the glowing skies. The grapes of Eshcol, I imagine, did not surpass those 
now grown in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Idaho. All up and 
down their fertile valleys and foot-hills may be seen great stretches of vine- 
yard after vineyard. The raisin industry alone is immense ; and the product 
is of such high quality and is produced at so low cost that the importation of 
European raisins is becoming less each year, and may soon be practically at 
an end. We have already begun exporting our raisins to England and other 
parts of the world. Over 103,000,000 pounds, filling 5000 cars, were shipped 
from California alone in one year. Single clusters of grapes have frequently 
been grown in California that weighed from ten to fifteen pounds, and four 
or five pound clusters are very common. Truly, America is a land of grapes. 

The Berries. — America stands alone in the popular use of berries. Ex- 
cept in the matter of gooseberries and currants, which are rather plentiful in 
some parts of Europe, and a few strawberries and raspberries there and in 
Japan, there are very few berries grown outside of America. 

The strawberry was found wild here in all sections. The fruit was small 
but of most delicious flavor. A few of the varieties grown in. the mother 
country were brought over here, but they did not flourish. About 1834 C. M. 
Hovey, of Cambridge, Mass., grew some seedlings of the old Pine straw- 
berry, which is an offshoot of the wild strawberry of the west coast of South 
America, and his introduction of varieties named Hovey and Boston Pine 
marked the first step in our modern strawberry culture. Next came the Wil- 
son, which originated about 1850 on the grounds of John Wilson, of Albany, 
N. Y. This variety really popularized the growing of strawberries, because 
of its hardiness and productiveness. Soon after this the Crescent was found 
at New Orleans, La. Other kinds were soon originated from seed by experi- 
menters, and chance seedlings were found coming up in all fruit-growing 
regions. It was not long until there were hundreds of named varieties of 
good quality and that bore abundantly. Within the last decade or two there 
have been hundreds more originated by the most skillful hybridizers using 
our native species and the foreign ones also. Others just as good were picked 
up wherever they chanced to grow from seed. Thus, we now have the most 
wonderful assortment of varieties of the strawberry in the world. They are 
early, medium, and late. The facilities for shipping are so convenient that, 
now, it is possible to have strawberries in the fancy markets almost every 
day of the year, from some section of our great country. In the flush of the 
season they are so cheap and abundant that the poor can enjoy them along 
with the rich. From little garden patches fifty years ago, and very small 
ones too, we have now come to grow them by the thousand acres. 

The raspberry is another of our delicious berries. At first our pioneers 



486 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

were satisfied with those they could gather from the wild bushes. Follow- 
ing the same plan that was used with most other fruits, the European rasp- 
berries were brought over the sea and planted in the gardens of America. 
But they did poorly, and about 1850 our people began to plant the native 
varieties. These grew and bore well. Now we have hundreds of the very 
choicest named kinds, black, red, purple, and yellow, early and late, and 
more being originated every year. 

The history of the gooseberry is almost identical with that of the rasp- 
berry. The foreign kinds, although bearing very much larger fruit than 
our native kinds, were ruined by mildew. About 1845 Abel Houghton, of 
Massachusetts, grew a seedling from the wild berry, which was named 
Houghton, and from this came another seedling, the Downing, which was 
originated at Newburgh, N. Y., some years later. These two varieties are 
now among our very best kinds. Since the benefits of spraying with fungi- 
cides have been known, the larger and milder flavored English kinds are 
being grown with considerable success. 

The blackberry is found native only in America. It has been one of the 
most useful of all our wild fruits from the earliest settlement of the coun- 
try, and was used by the aborigines for centuries before. Until about 1840 
there was not enough thought given to blackberry culture to make the least 
attempt in that direction, when Captain Lovett, of Beverly, Mass., gave the 
name Dorchester to a chance variety, and distributed it. Soon after 1850 
the Lawton was taken from its wild habitat on the banks of the Hudson 
Biver. This variety was the first really good blackberry that was named 
and distributed. The Kitatinny followed about ten years later, having been 
found wild in the mountains of western New Jersey. At least two white 
varieties, and several having pink berries, that were found growing wild, 
were named and sent out. These novelties are yet cultivated by a few 
amateur horticulturists. It may seem strange to say that we have white 
and red blackberries, but it is a fact. At this date we have many kinds of 
later introduction, some eaidy and some late, and of most delicious flavor. 

Perhaps all Americans know that cranberry sauce goes with Thanksgiving 
turkey. No country in the world has so many cranberries as North America. 
The bogs of Cape Cod are famous for this fruit, and the Pilgrims of Plymouth 
colony knew of them, and served them on their rustic tables. Now the wild 
marshes along the Atlantic are nearly all under cultivation, and the product 
has been increased many fold. Fully 1,000,000 bushels are marketed when 
the crop is good. The same is being done with the bogs in the vicinity of 
the Great Lakes. Cranberries grow in untold quantities on the marshes of 
Alaska. 

Citrus Fruits. — When the Spaniards invaded Florida in search of gold 
they brought with them seeds of the citrus fruits from the regions of the 
Mediterranean. There the orange, lemon, and lime were planted in the 
genial climate of our Southern borders. The fruit was carried hither and 
thither, and soon escaped the bounds of the cultivated areas. The forests 
in places were filled with wild orange trees, the most of which bore fruit of 
poor quality. When the tide of immigration set southward after the Civil 
War, these wild groves were budded to good varieties, and new land was 
cleared and planted with small seedlings. These were budded to good varie- 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN FRUIT CULTURE 



487 



ties in due time. Orange culture was soon a fixed industry in Florida. This 
increased rapidly up to the time of the severe freeze of 1894-95, when there 
were shipped over 5,000,000 boxes. Since then the results of the freezing of 
the trees has greatly lessened the product, but it is steadily increasing again. 

The lemon has attracted much less interest than the orange, but I have 
seen one lemon orchard in Florida of more than two hundred acres, and there 
are many smaller ones. 

The lime is but little called for, and is therefore grown more as a novelty 
than for commercial purposes. 

The pomelo, by some misnamed " grape-fruit," is a very large, wholesome, 
and delicious citrus fruit that is becoming quite popular where it grows, and 
in the northern markets. 




OltANGE OliCHAUD OF LYMAN PHELPS, SANFOIID, FLA. 



In California the orange was first planted by the mission fathers centuries 
ago. The first real orchard is said to have been planted at San Gabriel in 
1804. Before the discovery of gold in that far-away region very few orange 
orchards existed there, and they were of small size. Up to 1872 very little 
more than this was done, when the founding of the colony at Riverside, and 
the fortunate introduction of the Bahia or Navel orange from Brazil by our 
government, at this juncture, was the start of prosperous citrus culture on 
that coast. Now there are annually about 5,000.000 boxes of oranges sent 
out of that State alone, and the amount is steadily increasing. A large part 
of these are of the justly famous Navel variety. 

Lemon growing is also becoming a great industry there. Orchards of one 
hundred acres are rather common, and some are fully five times larger. Over 
2,000,000 boxes of lemons were produced the past season. 

The Olive. — Among the historic fruits of Palestine and southern Europe 
the olive holds a conspicuous place. Numerous but futile attempts were 



488 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 

made in early times to establish it in Virginia and along the Atlantic coast, 
the climate there proving unsuitable. But in the warmer parts of California 
the olive is perfectly at home. The first olive orchard of consequence was 
planted by Ellwood Cooper, at Santa Barbara, in 1872, and in 1876 he made 
oil from the fruit grown on the trees. Now there are many extensive 
orchards in many parts of the State. It is estimated that there are nearly 
2,000,000 olive trees now growing in that State. The oil and pickled fruit 
are steadily becoming popular in our fancy markets in competition with the 
foreign product. 

The Fig. — Very little is done in fig culture east of California, although 
the trees are not tender along the Gulf coast, except in case of extremely 
severe winters. In California it is a decided success, commercially as well 




OLIVE ORCHARD, QUITO RANCH, NEAR SAN JOSE, CAL. 

as for mere pleasure. The past year dried figs to the amount of nearly 
4,000,000 pounds were sent to market, and the quantity has been constantly 
increasing for several years. 

The Pineapple. — Those who have never seen pineapples growing are apt 
to think they are produced on trees. This is far from the fact. They grow 
on the tips of stalks about two feet high. The plants have large narrow 
leaves that cluster at the ground, from the centre of which these stalks 
spring. A few patches were planted on the islands near the Florida coast 
in 1860, but it is only about fifteen years since the first vigorous attempts 
were made to grow this delicious fruit in the United States. Florida is the 
only region within our country where the climate is sufficiently moist and 
warm for it to flourish. Along the east coast, from Rock Ledge south- 
ward, and on the west coast below Tampa, are the most favorable sections. 
Many acres are devoted to its culture there. Frosts damage the plants some- 
times, but they soon recover. In central Florida, many acres are grown 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN FRUIT CULTURE 489 

under sheds. These are made of frame-work, which is covered with slats or 
boughs as a protection from frost. Upwards of 3,000,000 fruits of market- 
able size are now produced in Florida annually. 

Other Fruits. — The date is just beginning to be set in the arid regions 
of Arizona and southern California, and with good prospects of success. 
Already many trees are in bearing, and the fruit is of excellent quality. 
The choicest varieties have been imported from Africa. The guava is being 
grown in the warm parts of Florida and California. The mango has been 
fruited in the warmest parts of Florida and California. 

Nuts. — The sweet almond of southern Europe has long been tested in 
America, but nowhere with success except in California, where there are 
almond orchards of several hundred acres each. The Persian (wrongly 



IS 



PINEAPPLE FIELD AT PALM BEACH, FLA. 

called English) walnut is a great success in the richer lands of California, 
where orchards of majestic trees have been in full bearing for many years. 
Of our native nuts the pecan is the best of all, and it is about the only one 
that has so far proved worthy of cultivation. It is found in a wild state in 
Illinois, Missouri, and Nebraska, and southward to the Gulf of Mexico. The 
creek and river bottoms suit it best, but it will do very well on almost any 
rich land. On some of the hammock lands of Florida hundreds of acres 
are now planted to the pecan. The largest pecan orchard is that of F. A. 
Swinden, of Brownwood, Texas, which covers over five hundred acres, and 
is being increased from year to year. 

Our native chestnut is of better quality than the foreign kinds, but the 
nuts are much smaller. The largest are from Japan, some of which are two 
inches in diameter. Many of these choice kinds have been imported, and 
others were originated from seeds, which are now being planted in orchards. 
The best of the European chestnuts have also been imported, and new kinds 



490 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

have been grown here from the nuts. Nearly all of these varieties succeed 
in America, and many small orchards have been planted. Some have grafted 
sprouts from our native chestnut stumps and small trees with these improved 
kinds, and found them to grow and bear abundantly. 

The cocoanut is strictly tropical, and can only be grown in the very 
warmest parts of Florida. It will not endure as low a temperature as the 
pineapple without injury. As a commercial venture its culture will probably 
never pay in America, but for ornamental purposes and as an interesting 
novelty it is already a success from Lake Worth southward. The waving 
plumes of this giant palm are a source of constant delight to those who are 
privileged to see them. The huge clusters of nuts are indeed an interesting 
sight. 

Surely we have a great and fruitful country, from the cranberry bogs of 
arctic Alaska to the waving cocoanut groves of Florida. This century closes 
and the new one begins with wonderful advances in fruit culture beyond 
those of a hundred years ago. 



• THE CENTURY'S COMMERCIAL PROGRESS 

By EMORY R. JOHNSON, A.M., 

Asst. Prof, of Transportation and Commerce, University of Pennsylvania. 

Commercial activity has three phases, trade, shipping, and shipbuilding. 
In each of these three phases of commerce the nineteenth century has wit- 
nessed a remarkable progress. The expansion of both domestic and interna- 
tional trade has far exceeded the anticipations of those who lived a hundred 
years ago ; and the agencies of transportation by water, the numerous auxil- 
iaries of commerce and the shipbuilding industries, have undergone a techni- 
cal revolution so complete, and with consequences so beneficent to our social 
and industrial life, as to make the commercial progress of the past hundred 
years one of the salient features of the history of the century. We shall 
better appreciate the nature and scope of the commercial progress of the 
past hundred years, if we glance for a moment at a picture of the commerce 
of the world at the close of the eighteenth century. 

I. MAIN FEATURES OF THE WORLD'S COMMERCE AT THE CLOSE OF THE 
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 

A hundred years ago, the volume of trade, both domestic and foreign, was 
necessarily kept within proportions relatively small as compared with present 
traffic, because of the slowness, and high costs of inland transportation. 
Domestic inland traffic is directly dependent upon facilities for water and 
land transportation, and until the railroad came into use, some seventy years 
ago, only those countries having numerous navigable rivers or well-developed 
canal systems could extend their commerce much beyond the cities and dis- 
tricts adjacent to tide water. In all ages since the world became civilized 
enough to engage in commerce, an overland traffic by caravan or wagon has 
been carried on ; but the amount of commodities could not be large, and the 
kinds of goods transported were necessarily limited to articles of high value 
per unit of bulk or weight. Such an inland traffic as this did not establish 
the basis for a large coastwise or over-sea commerce. 

At present, bulky commodities produced long distances from the sea-ports 
comprise a large portion of international traffic, and supply the coast cities 
with the raw materials from which they manufacture the articles they con- 
tribute to swell the volume of foreign trade. When the means were wanting 
for the inland transportation of these bulky commodities, only a few coun- 
tries, such as Phoenicia, the Italian cities, Portugal, the Netherlands, the 
United Kingdom, and the British colonies in America, could develop an 
important maritime commerce. During the past fifty years, the improve- 
ments in transportation have been such as to enable all industrial countries, 
inland as well as maritime, to engage extensively in the world's trade. Com- 
merce has become general ; and countries like Switzerland and Saxony readily 
market their wares the world over. 

The volume of foreign trade, as late as a hundred years ago, was really 



492 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

small, even in the case of the most important commercial nations. The 
imports and exports of the United Kingdom in 1800 amounted to about 
$360,000,000, which, for a population of approximately 18,000,000, would be 
about $ 20 per capita. At that time the trade of the United Kingdom was- 
about one tenth what it is now. At the present time the foreign commerce 
of the United Kingdom amounts to nearly $100 for each inhabitant of the 
country. 

The thirteen British colonies in America and the original commonwealths 
of the United States were all maritime States with navigable rivers, and 
their industries, lumbering, fisheries, production of food products and tobacco, 
called for the exchange of large quantities of commodities with the manufac- 
turers of the home country, and with the tropical islands of the West Indies. 
For their time, then, these States were large traders. The statistical infor- 
mation which we possess of their commerce is meagre, but we know that 
the total trade of the colonies with the mother country in 1770 was about 
$13,000,000 a year, or something over four dollars per person. There was a 
trade of considerable proportions with the West Indies, some with the Medi- 
terranean countries and Africa, and, after the colonies became States, with 
the East Indies and the Orient ; but in all probability the foreign trade of 
the Americans did not reach ten dollars per capita until after 1790. At the 
present time, in spite of the very rapid growth of population in the United 
States that has continued throughout the nineteenth century, our foreign 
trade is equal to twenty-five dollars per person. 

It is when the commerce of the eighteenth century is viewed from the 
standpoint of the transportation agencies by which it was served — the size, 
speed, and efficiency of the ships — that the contrast with present conditions 
becomes most striking. Two hundred years ago, the 560 ships owned at 
London averaged 157 tons. A century ago, a vessel of 300 tons was still 
considered a large ship, and as late as 1840 vessels of that size traded from 
the United States to India and China. The Grand Turk, of 564 tons, built 
in 1791, was probably the largest ship built in America up to that time. 
During the fourth decade of the nineteenth century numerous vessels of over 
1000 tons were constructed, and in 1840 the Great Britain of 3000 tons was 
ordered. In her day the Great Britain was more of a marvel than is the 
recently launched Oceanic, of 28,500 tons displacement. 

When we consider that these small vessels in use a century ago took from 
a month to six weeks to cross the Atlantic, — their speed being about one 
third that of the freight steamers of to-day, — we realize the great difference 
in the efficiency of the merchant marine of the present as compared with 
that by which commerce was served in 1800. The efficiency of the ships, 
however, does not depend alone upon their size and speed. The commercial 
auxiliaries which enable vessels to enter and clear harbors without delay, and 
to load and unload cargoes quickly, — lighthouses, beacons, buoys, spacious 
wharves and docks equipped with mechanical appliances for handling freight,. 
— make it possible for vessels to spend a greater portion of the time at sea. 
A merchant marine to-day has fully five times the efficiency that one with 
an equal tonnage had a century ago. We shall better see how this has been 
brought about, by briefly reviewing the technical revolution which has taken 
place in ocean navigation during the past seventy years. 



THE CENTURY'S COMMERCIAL PROGRESS 493- 

II. THE CENTURY'S TECHNICAL REVOLUTION IN COMMERCE. 

During the first four decades of this century the wooden sailing vessel was 
the sole carrier of ocean traffic, and in the construction and operation of such 
ships the Americans had special advantages and manifested peculiar ingenu- 
ity. For forty years the American sailing clipper, whose fine lines made it 
stanch and speedy, had been "the type and model of excellence in ship- 
building ; " but before the middle of the century the supremacy of the 
wooden clipper-ship had been destroyed, and the technical superiority of 
steam and iron had been demonstrated. 

There are six distinct steps in the technical evolution of the ocean liner of 




A CLIPPER SHIP. 



the present day, — six changes which mark the epochs in the history of the 
substitution of steam and steel for sail and wood. The first step in the evo- 
lution was taken when the steam engine and the paddle-wheel took the place 
of wind and sails. Like most epoch-making changes, this one was made 
slowly ; indeed, it was preceded by thirty years of hesitation and conserva- 
tive experimentation. Robert Fulton, taking advantage of ideas and plans 
which he had obtained in Europe, produced his Clermont in 1807, and de- 
monstrated the practicability of the steamship for river traffic. Five years 
later, Henry Bell of Scotland constructed the Comet, the first passenger 
steamboat built in Europe, a vessel only forty feet long, ten and one half feet 
in width, and of four horse-power. The Clermont was somewhat larger, 
having a length of 130 feet, a beam of eighteen feet, and a hold six feet in 
depth. She succeeded in making five miles an hour against stream. These 



494 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



little vessels attracted great attention, and the problem of constructing ships 
that could cross the ocean by steam power began to be studied. In 1819, the 
Savannah was fitted with engines and crossed the Atlantic, using both steam 
power and sails, but the vessel did not prove a success, and her engines were 

taken out the following year. 
Indeed, it was not until 1833 
that a vessel steamed all the 
way across the Atlantic ; and 
this ship, the Koyal William, a 
Canadian craft of four or five 
hundred tons, was able to make 
the trip from Quebec to Graves- 
end on the Thames only by 
stopping for coal at Pictou, 
Nova Scotia, and Cowes near 
Portsmouth, England. 

The first steamships to cross 
the ocean without recoaling 
were the Sinus and Great West- 
ern, which arrived in New York 
the same day, April 23, 1838, 
the former vessel having sailed 
from London and the latter 
from Liverpool. This achieve- 
ment on the part of these two 
wooden craft, neither one capa- 
ble of carrying more than seven 
The New York " Courier and 




ROBERT FULTON. 



hundred tons, created a great impression. 
Enquirer " said, in its issue of April 24, 1838 : — 

" What may be the ultimate fate of this excitement — whether or not the 
expense of equipment and fuel will admit of the employment of these ves- 
sels in the ordinary packet service — we cannot pretend to form an opinion ; 
but of the entire feasibility of the passage of the Atlantic by steam, as far 
as regards safety, comfort, and dispatch, even in the roughest and most 
boisterous weather, the most skeptical man must now cease to doubt." 

The employment of steamships in the regular packet service was assured 
in 1839, when Samuel Cunard founded the famous English line that still 
bears his name, and ordered four steamers of moderate size that cost between 
four and five hundred thousand dollars each. These, however, were wooden 
vessels, and it was not until 1856 that the conservative Cunards constructed 
any iron ships. 

The construction of iron ships for ocean navigation marks the second im- 
portant phase of the technical evolution of the past century's commerce. It 
began on a small scale about 1830, and in 1837 an iron vessel, The Kainbow, 
of six hundred tons was built ; but the first large iron steamer was ordered in 
1840, and was the famous Great Britain before referred to, constructed by 
Brunei, the engineer who subsequently built the unfortunate naval monstros- 
ity, the Great Eastern. The completion of the Great Britain, in 1843, was an 
important event in the progress of ocean navigation, not only because she 



THE CENTURY'S COMMERCIAL PROGRESS 



495 



was five times the size of her largest iron predecessor, but also because of the 
fact that Brunei decided, while building the vessel, to adopt the screw for 
propelling the ship. 

The substitution of the screw instead of paddle-wheels represents a third 
phase of the technical evolution of ocean navigation. John Ericsson, who 
subsequently built the famous Monitor, had demonstrated the practicability 
of the screw as a propeller in 1836, and, three years later, the Archimedes, of 
two hundred and thirty-seven tons, was fitted with a screw. It was the suc- 
cess of the Archimedes that led Brunei to adopt the screw on the Great 
Britain. 

The superiority of the screw over paddle-wheels, and the greater merits of 
iron ships compared with wooden vessels, have long been accepted ; but the 







_MSlM_AI **i&L'i 



M PJ L W S I !9^f MSMM , 



THE CLERMONT. FULTON'S FIRST STEAMBOAT. 



adoption of iron as a material and of the screw for a propeller came about 
slowly. Indeed, iron ship-building made little progress in Great Britain be- 
fore 1850, and in this country wood was adhered to till much later. One 
reason why the English did not change to the screw and iron more quickly 
was probably the great influence exerted by the powerful Cunard line, whose 
conservatism caused it to hold to wooden ships until 1856. The Great East- 
ern, finished as late as 1859, was an iron ship, but was fitted with both screw 
and paddle-wheels. Of the total tonnage built in the United Kingdom in 
1853, about twenty-five per cent was steam tonnage and a little more than 
twenty-five per cent was of iron. At the present time three fourths of all 
British-built vessels are steamers, and no wooden ships are built in the 
United Kingdom. 

America was slow in changing from wood to iron, because the cost of iron 
was so high. We had wood in abundance, numerous yards for the construc- 
32 



496 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

tion of wooden vessels, and were the builders of the best type of wooden 
ships. In 1853, the year just referred to for Great Britain, twenty -two per 
cent of the tonnage of the vessels built in this country was in steamships, but 
only an inappreciable portion was in iron vessels. The adherence of Ameri- 
can ship-builders and owners to wood is well illustrated by the action taken 
by the owners of the famous but unfortunate American Collins line, estab- 
lished in 1847. The company began, in 1850, to run four palatial steamers, 
built without regard to cost, and supplied with luxurious appointments, some 
of which are retained in vessels of the present day ; but the company built 
the ships of wood and propelled them with paddle-wheels. The great Ameri- 
can ship-building firm, William Cramp & Sons, founded in 1850, did not begin 
constructing iron ships till 1870. Even in 1898, the tonnage of wooden ves- 
sels constructed was one and a half times the steel and iron tonnage. About 
twenty-six per cent of our merchant marine, foreign and domestic, is now 
made up of iron and steel vessels. 

The next important step in maritime progress, following the adoption of 
iron and the screw, was taken about 1870, when the compound engine came 
into general use. Though the compound engine had been used on a small 
vessel in France as early as 1829, it was first extensively adopted as the 
result of the rapid development in steam navigation which took place in the 
seventies. In the compound engine the steam, instead of being used in only 
one cylinder in passing from the boiler to the condenser, exerts its force in 
two or three cylinders, and even in four, in the quadruple expansion engines. 
This results in a great economy in the amount of fuel used. In the earlier 
marine engines the pressure of steam in the boilers was thirteen pounds to 
the square inch, and the consumption of coal per horse-power per hour was 
five and one half pounds ; whereas, at the present time, a pressure of two 
hundred pounds per square inch is maintained, and the fuel used has been 
reduced to less than one and a half pounds per hour for each indicated horse- 
power. 

Ten years after the compound engine came into general use, the cheapened 
cost of steel made it possible to adopt steel in the place of iron in the con- 
struction of hulls. This may be regarded as marking a fifth epoch-making 
step in the progress of commerce ; because the steel ship was stronger, 
lighter, and able to carry more cargo than iron vessels of the same size. 
The substitution of steel for iron in the British yards was made rapidly. In 
1879, only ten and a quarter per cent of the tonnage constructed on the 
Clyde was of steel ; but in 1889 the per cent had risen to ninety-seven. 

During the past twenty years there have been many improvements made 
in the construction and appointments of ships ; but the more important 
changes have consisted in dividing vessels, by means of bulkheads, into sev- 
eral water-tight compartments, and in substituting twin screws for the single 
screw. The Inmans placed twin screws on the City of New York in 1888, 
and since then their use has become general on the larger ocean liners. 
The twin screws add somewhat, though* not greatly, to the speed of vessels ; 
but they render ships much safer and less liable to be disabled. An ocean 
steamer with twin screws and water-tight compartments can suffer any one 
of the common accidents — such as breaking of one of its shafts, losing one of 
its screws, having its rudder damaged, or one of its engines give out, or hav- 



THE CENTURY'S COMMERCIAL PROGRESS 



497 



ing its side punctured by collision — without being disabled. Although ocean 
travel still has its dangers, the risks at the present time are far less than 
they were a half or a quarter of a century ago. 

The technical progress of commerce during the nineteenth century is well 
summarized by Mr. Henry 
Fry in his book on the 
History of North Atlantic 
Steam Navigation, written 
in 1895. He says : — 

" The Comet of 1812 has 
multiplied into twelve 
thousand steamships, mea- 
suring over sixteen million 
tons. . . . Her twenty tons 
have been multiplied into 
a ship of eighteen thou- 
sand ; her forty feet to six 
hundred and ninety-two 
feet ; and her four horse- 
power to thirty thousand 
in a single ship. Syming- 
ton's four-inch cylinder has 
grown to one hundred and 
twenty inches ; the pres- 
sure of steam in the boiler 
has increased from thir- 
teen pounds to two hun- 
dred pounds on the square 

inch ; the two hundred and forty-three knots, the maximum of the Great 
Western in 1838, to five hundred and sixty ; and the average speed from 8.2 
to 22.01 knots, while the consumption of coal has decreased from about five 
and one half to one and one half pounds per indicated horse-power per hour." 

The century's naval technical progress is epitomized in the White Star 
liner, the Oceanic. The length of this mammoth vessel is over an eighth 
of a mile, being 705 feet, 6 inches, 13£ feet longer than the Great Eastern 
was. When loaded, the Oceanic draws 32 feet, 6 inches of water, and on 
that draft her displacement is 28,500 tons. The figures for the Great Eastern 
were 25 feet, 6 inches, and 27,000 tons. The capacity of her engines is 
28,000 horse-power, or two and one third times the capacity of those in the 
Great Eastern. The pressure in her boilers is 192 pounds to the square inch, 
or ten or twelve times that in the boilers of her famous predecessor. Though 
not built for speed, the Oceanic can average 500 miles a day, or sixty per 
cent more than the Great Eastern did. The Oceanic will accommodate 400 
first-class passengers, 300 second-class, 1000 third-class, and a ship's company 
of 394, making a total of 2104 persons. In this regard, however, her figures 
are fortunately less than those of the Great Eastern, for that vessel was 
designed to carry 4000 persons, besides crew. These figures regarding pas- 
senger accommodations indicate in a forceful way the great advancement that 
has been made in the comforts of ocean travel during the past forty years. 




498 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



III. IMPROVEMENTS IN COMMERCIAL AUXILIARIES. 

The progress of commerce during the nineteenth century has been pro- 
moted not only by the evolution of ships of great speed and capacity, but 
also by the improvements made in numerous other auxiliaries of commerce. 
Chief among these aids to commercial activity have been the betterment of 
natural waterways and the construction of ship-canals, the improvements 
of harbors, the laying of cables, and the extension of international banking 
facilities. 

The improvements of such rivers as the Rhine, Danube, Hudson, and Mis- 
sissippi, and of such natural waterways as the chain of Great Lakes in the 
northern part of the United States, are conspicuous instances of the manner 
in which the canalization of natural waterways has been undertaken for the 
promotion of traffic. That part of the Rhine River traffic which passes 
Emmerich and Mannheim amounted to 2,800,000 tons a year from 1872 
to 1875, but by 1895 it had increased to 10,300,000 tons. The traffic on the 
rivers of the Mississippi Valley, according to census statistics, increased from 
18,946,522 tons, in 1880, to 29,485,046 tons, in 1889 ; and since that year 
the increase must have been considerable. The effect of the improvement of 
waterways upon commerce is most strikingly shown in the case of our Great 
Lakes. In the seventies, the demands of traffic were for channels and harbors 
12 feet in depth. During the next decade it was necessary for the United 
States to increase the depth to 16 feet ; and in the nineties the channels had 
to be made deep enough to accommodate vessels of 20 feet draft. At the 
present time the traffic on the Lakes is probably over 70,000,000 tons annu- 
ally. During the year 1898 the freight that passed the locks at the Sault St. 
Marie equaled 21,000,000 tons, two and a half times the tonnage passing the 
Suez Canal. 

During the last third of the nineteenth century six important ocean ship- 
canals have been opened ; the Suez, opened in 1869; the Rotterdam Canal, in 
1872 ; the canal connecting Amsterdam directly with the North Sea, 1877 ; 
the canal across the Isthmus of Corinth, 1893 ; the Manchester Canal, 1894 ; 
and the Baltic or Kiel Canal, finished in 1895. The Panama Canal was 
begun in 1882, and the construction of the Nicaragua Canal was commenced 
in 1889 ; but the date of the completion of these most important works is 
still problematical. 

In the improvement of its harbors every government has been active. 
Thirty years ago a depth of 23 feet was considered ample, but after 1880 it 
became necessary to adopt 27 feet as the standard. During the past five 
years the larger seaports have required harbors with 30 feet of water in order 
to accommodate- the largest ocean vessels, and the limit has by no means been 
reached. The United States Government has just recently, 1899, authorized 
the deepening of New York harbor to 35 feet. As noted before, the Oceanic 
can be loaded to a draft of 32^ feet. 

The docks of the great seaports have been improved at a cost of many 
millions of dollars. As an illustration of this Liverpool may be cited. The 
city's position gave it great commercial possibilities, but a troublesome bar 
at the mouth of the Mersey, and. a tide with a rise and fall of thirty feet 
made the construction of its harbor and docks a difficult matter. The prob- 



500 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

lem was solved by the construction, under public control, of a large number 
of commodious wet docks with gates which are opened only a few hours a 
day, during high tide. These harbor improvements have made possible 
Liverpool's phenomenal expansion in commerce during the past quarter 
of a century, an increase that has given the city third place among the sea- 
ports of the world, with an annual tonnage of vessels entered and cleared of 
16,000,000 tons. 

The achievements of Manchester during the past decade are even more 
notable than those of Liverpool. Manchester is situated on a small stream 
thirty -five miles from the ocean ; but she has become a seaport for the largest 
ocean vessels, and has docks and wharves equipped with the most improved 
appliances. Her dock-sheds, for instance, are twin structures, three stories 
in height, and the arrangements for handling freight are such that goods are 
taken directly from the ships to any one of the three stories of the sheds. 

In the United States, the government and private corporations are rapidly 
improving the harbor facilities of our ports. During the past decade the 
Gulf ports have received especial attention, with the result that a large part 
of our export trade is now moving through the Gulf harbors. As an instance 
of what private corporations are doing, mention may be made of the fact that 
a railway corporation has recently completed a wharf in New Orleans that 
cost $2,000,000. 

Besides these harbor improvements, the erection of more and better light- 
houses and signals has made the approach of vessels safer. The United 
States Weather Bureau has also done much to lessen the dangers of naviga- 
tion by its weather forecasts and its warnings of approaching storms. Al- 
though the Bureau was established only twenty -nine years ago, and in a 
small way, its services have so increased and in such a practical manner as 
to have come to be regarded as indispensable by the commercial interests. 

The first successful trans- Atlantic cable was laid in 1866; at the present 
time there are 170,000 miles of submarine telegraphs in use. The cables now 
used for commercial purposes number 320 and include about 150,000 miles of 
lines, the other 20,000 miles being short government lines connecting forts, 
batteries, signal-stations, and lighthouses. The total cost of these cables 
has been about $250,000,000. The influence of the cable upon commerce has 
been so great as to revolutionize the methods of international trade that pre- 
vailed a century ago ; indeed, ocean telegraphy has made it no more difficult 
to effect international sales and purchases than it is to make domestic ex- 
changes. With thirteen cables in successful operation between the United 
States and Europe, we have had no difficulty in building up an immense 
trade across the Atlantic ; but, with no trans-Pacific line, we are experiencing 
much difficulty in securing a large place in the trade of the Orient. Of 
course the development of our commerce with the East is conditioned by 
numerous other factors ; but no one doubts that the construction of the pro- 
posed Pacific cable will be of assistance to our commercial progress in the 
Orient. 

Among the other agencies that have promoted the progress of commerce, 
mention should be made of the extension and improvement of international 
credit systems and banking facilities. In this regard the United Kingdom 
leads the nations of the world, London being the clearing-house for a large 



THE CENTURY'S COMMERCIAL PROGRESS 



501 



part of the world's trade. Germany, France, and the Netherlands have also 
developed good facilities for international banking ; but the United States 
has not yet done so. Our merchants are still obliged to settle most accounts 
through foreign banks, but it is probable that our recent acquisition of for- 
eign possessions will cause us to establish some system of international 
banks. 

IV. EXPANSION OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE DURING THE CENTURY. 

In the introductory paragraph of this paper it was stated that the com- 
mercial progress of the past hundred years is one of the salient features of 
the history of the century ; and, in contrasting the commerce of a hundred 
years ago with that of the present, a few figures were cited that indicated in 
a general way the growth that the foreign trade of Great Britain and the 
United States has enjoyed. The expansion of international trade during 
the century merits fuller presentation and analysis. 

Accurate figures for the whole world's trade are not obtainable for the 
earlier years ; and if it were possible to present comparative statistics of the 
international trade of the world, as a whole, the comparisons would not be so 
instructive as those which present the progress of the commerce of those 
countries which rank highest among trading nations. Accordingly it will be 
most profitable to confine our statistics and analytical study to the commerce 
of Great Britain, Germany, France, and the United States. 

The progress which the commerce of the United Kingdom has made during 
the century is shown by the following table, giving the imports, exports, and 
total trade for the years 1800, 1839, 1897, and the annual average for alter- 
nate quinquennial periods between 1855 and 1890. 

TABLE SHOWING GROWTH OF COMMERCE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. 



Years. 


Imports. 


Exports. 


Total Trade. 


1800 


$148,876,000 
300,474,000 
890,723,000 
1,425,936,000 
1,862,775,000 
1,897,352,000 
2,194,932,524 


$210,240,000 
321,564,000 
604,854,000 
914,586,000 
980,818,000 
1,453,695,000 
1,431,598,345 


$359,116,000 
622,038,000 
1,495,577,000 
2,340,522,000 
2,843,593,000 


1839 


1856-60 


1866-70 


1876-80 


1886-90 

1897 


3,351,047,000 
3,626,530,869 





During the first four decades of the century, the growth of the commerce 
of the United Kingdom, though considerable, was not rapid, — the figures for 
1839 showing an increase of 73 per cent over those for 1800, — but during 
the fifth, sixth, and seventh decades the progress was phenomenal. The value 
of the exports in 1873, as compared with 1839, shows a gain of 379 per cent, 
and the total foreign trade increased nearly 450 per cent ; that is, it was five 
and a half times as much in 1873 as it was thirty-four years previous. Since 
1880, the quantities of imports and exports have largely increased, but the 
fall in prices has been such as to make the increase in the total value com- 
paratively small. 

The commerce of the German States during the nineteenth century did 



502 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

not grow vei*y rapidly until after 1850. During the early part of the century 
the great Continental wars rendered commerce nearly impossible. Peace 
was restored in 1815, but the German States had neither political nor com- 
mercial unity. Each State had a tariff which applied against all other States. 
Gradually a Zollverein, or customs union, grew up, which, by 1854, had come 
to include all the German States except Austria, Holstein, Mecklenburg, 
Lauenburg, and the three Hanse towns, Hamburg, Lubeck, and Bremen. In 
1866, the North German Federation was organized, and this paved the way 
for the formation of the German Empire in 1871. The Zollverein made 
commercial progress possible, and political unity gave it a great impulse. 

The statistics of the German trade before the establishment of the Zoll- 
verein are very meagre. A German authority, Otto Huebner, estimates the 
value of the total import and export trade of the German States to have 
been 1309,019,200 in 1850, and $564,988,200 in 1855. The value of the 
imports of Hamburg, the chief port of Germany, rose from an annual aver- 
age of $92,320,050 for the five-year period 1851-55, to $157,660,472 dur- 
ing the half decade 1866-70. The growth of Germany's foreign commerce 
during the past twenty years has been phenomenal, and her trade is now 
second only to that of Great Britain. In 1881, the imports were valued at 
$704,904,000, and the exports at $707,978,000, being slightly more than the 
imports ; whereas, by 1890, the imports had risen to $986,641,000, and the 
exports to $792,620,000, a sum nearly a hundred million dollars less than 
the value of the imports. The foreign trade of the country, particularly 
in imports, has continued its rapid growth since 1890, the figures for 1897 
being, imports $1,231,756,862, and exports $977,447,198, a total trade of 
$2,209,204,060. 

The foreign trade of France at the beginning of the nineteenth century 
consisted of $80,500,000 worth of imports and $59,000,000 of exports, a total 
of $139,500,000. The Continental wars, up to 1815, were even more disas- 
trous to French trade than they were to German ; but with the restoration of 
peace, commercial progress began, and between 1815 and 1831 the total trade 
increased from $119,200,000 worth to $168,152,000 worth. The growth by 
decades since 1830 has been as follows : In 1840, the value of the total for- 
eign trade was $278,383,200; in 1850, $358,748,400; in 1860, $805,659,200; in 
1871, $1,242,765,600 ; in 1880, $1,640,712,300 ; and in 1890, $2,003,557,516. 
These figures show that the rapid expansion of French commerce began 
about 1850. The highest point was reached in 1891 ; but since then there 
has been a slight falling off in the total trade, due to a decrease in imports. 
In 1891, the value of the imports was 81,155,973,310 ; in 1897, $991,537,500. 
The exports were valued at $920,839,130 in 1891 ; and at $926,998,300 in 
1897. The total trade for these years was $2,076,812,440 for 1891, and 
$1,918,535,800 for 1897. 

During the first quarter of the century France had a strong balance of 
trade in her favor : that is, she sold more commodities than she bought ; and 
between 1825 and 1840 the exports and imports about balanced each other ; 
but since that date, with the exception of the years 1871 to 1875, when the 
huge war indemnity was paid, the balance of trade had been unfavorable, as 
would naturally be expected of a country such as France, whose people are 
extensively engaged in manufacturing. France, as well as the United King- 



THE CENTURY'S COMMERCIAL PROGRESS 



soa 



dom, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, and other European countries, imports 
raw materials and food in large quantities. 

The decline in the value of French trade, though due to falling prices 
rather than to a decrease in the quantities of commodities, has given the 
French people much concern. It is not probable, however, that this decline 
is due to permanent causes. The population and industries of France have 
not reached a stationary stage ; they are going to increase and cause a natu- 
ral growth in the country's foreign commerce. The commercial progress of 
France, however, can hardly be so rapid as that of Germany and the United 
States. These are the countries whose commercial vitality is strongest, and 
of these two countries, the United States possesses greater natural resources 
and larger possibilities, industrial and commercial. The progress of the com- 
merce of the United States merits a somewhat closer survey than has been 
given its three leading rivals in trade. 

V. THE TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES DURING THE CENTURY. 

The economic progress of the United States during the past hundred years 
is most clearly indicated by the growth of its foreign and domestic com- 
merce. Being a new country, busied with occupying and developing- our 
large territory, our domestic commerce has been of enormous proportions. 
With nearly two hundred thousand miles of railroads, comprising four ninths 
of the total railway mileage of the world, with our chain of the Great Lakes 
and our admirable system of navigable rivers, it has been possible to exploit 
our natural resources on a large scale, and to develop an inland traffic several 
times the volume of our foreign commerce. 

Our international trade, however, although smaller than our domestic 
traffic, has been large throughout the country, has grown rapidly, especially 
since the year 1850, the period of the Civil War excepted, and is now increas- 
ing in such a manner as to give our foreign rivals much concern. The pro- 
gress of our foreign trade during this century is shown by the following 
table containing the statistics of the value of our merchandise imports, 
exports, and total foreign trade for each decade, beginning with 1790. 

TABLE SHOWING IMPORTS AND EXPORTS OF MERCHANDISE BY DECADES FROM 

1790 TO 1898. 



Year. 


Exports. 


Imports. 


Total Trade. 


1790 . 


120,205,156 

70,971,780 

66,757,970 

59,691,669 

71,670,735 

123,668,932 

144,375,726 

333.576,057 

392,771,768 

835,638,658 

857,828,864 

1,210,291,913 


$23,000,000 

91,252,768 

85,400,000 

74,450,000 

62,720,956 

98,258,706 

17:1,509,526 

353,616.119 

435,958,408 

667,954,746 

789,310,409 

610,049,654 


$43,205,156 
162,224.548 
152 157 970 


1800 


1810 . 


1820 


144,141,069 
134,391,691 
221,927,638 




1840 


1850 

1870 ... 

1890 


317,885,252 

687,192,176 

828,730,176 

1,503,593,404 

1,647,139,093 

1,826, 341, 56r 


1898 .... 





504 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

During the first half of the century, the expansion of our foreign trade 
■was not especially rapid. The Continental wars, lasting from 1793 to 1815, 
■and our own war with England, from 1812 to 1815, interfered considerably 
with international trade. Probably our tariffs of 1816, 1824, and 1828 had 
the effect they were intended to accomplish, and restricted somewhat the 
volume of our foreign commerce. The chief reason, however, why our trade 
progress was much more rapid after 1850 was, that it was not until about 
that time that the means of inland transportation became developed suffi- 
ciently to make possible a large domestic traffic. When our central West 
was able to exchange commodities on a large scale with the seaboard, then 
our foreign commerce began to increase rapidly. 

The growth of our imports was very rapid for the period of fifteen years, 
1879 to 1893, their value having risen from $445,777,775 to $866,400,922 ; 
but since then there has been a sharp decline to $616,049,654. Our exports, 
however, have increased in a phenomenal manner during the past decade. 
Prior to 1897, the highest point was reached in 1892, when the value of the 
•exports was $1,030,278,148. In 1897, the value was $1,050,993,556, and in 
1898 (the official year ending June 30), the value, as shown by the foregoing 
table, was $1,210,291,913. In consequence of this great increase in our 
exports the total foreign trade of the United States has not decreased in 
value during recent years, although there has been a considerable fall in 
prices and a large falling off in our importations. Our total trade, dur- 
ing the fiscal year 1898, was much larger than it was in 1890, and fell only 
$10,000,000 short of the value reached in the record-breaking year of 1892. 
The calendar year 1898 shows a larger trade than has been shown by any 
previous year, the value being $1,868,523,057. 

The leading industry of the United States being agriculture, our exports 
consist largely of various products of the farm. In 1898 the exported agri- 
cultural products were valued at $853,683,570, and comprised 70.54 per cent 
of our total sales abroad. In spite of these large figures, the preponderance 
of agricultural over other products is being reduced with considerable rapid- 
ity by the growth in the exportation of manufactures. Before 1876 our 
exports of manufactures were less than $100,000,000 a year; whereas, in 
the calendar year 1898, they were $370,924,994. In 1880, agricultural ex- 
ports comprised 83.25 per cent of our exports, and manufactures 12.48 per 
•cent; and in the calendar year 1898, a year of exceptionally large foreign 
sales of food products, agriculture furnished onty 69.06 per cent, — less than 
seven tenths of the exports, while manufacture supplied 24.96 per cent, or 
one fourth of the total. The year 1898 is a notable one in the history of 
American manufactures, for it was then, for the first time, that we sold to 
foreigners more of our manufactures than we bought of theirs. 

A table showing the total foreign trade of the United States from 1789 to 
1898, the first eleven decades of our national existence, has recently been 
prepared by the Bureau of Statistics in the United States Treasury Depart- 
ment. It shows the total imports and exports of merchandise and specie, 
.and on which side of our trade account the errand balance comes. 



THE CENTURY'S COMMERCIAL PROGRESS 505 



TABLE SHOWING TOTAL TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES 1789-1898. 

Merchandise 

Exports $30,952,202,985 

Imports , 29,979,961,487 

Excess of Exports 972,241,498 

Gold and Silver 

Exports 3,400,623,581 

Imports 1,940,150,320 

Excess of Exports 1,460,473,261 

Merchandise and Gold and Silver combined 

Exports 34,352,826,566 

Imports 31,920,111,807 

Excess of Exports 2,432,714,759 



The table shows that we have exported nearly thirty-one billion dollars 
"worth of commodities, — about a billion dollars more than we have purchased. 
It also shows that we have sent out of the country $1,460,473,261 more of 
the precious metals than we have received. Our exports of merchandise 
and gold and silver combined exceed our total imports by the large sum of 
$2,432,714,759. If the statistics of our imports and exports for each year 
since 1789 be consulted, it will be found that during the eighty-seven years 
preceding 1876 there were but sixteen years when our exports of merchan- 
dise exceeded our imports. The balance of trade was nearly always " unfa- 
vorable." Since 1876, however, the balance has nearly always been on the 
other side, there, having been only three years when our exports did not 
exceed our imports. 

In return for something, we have given foreign countries nearly two and a 
half billion dollars worth more of commodities and precious metals than we 
have received in return. A part of this large sum, possibly one fourth, has 
been paid to foreigners for freights on our imported commodities, and we 
have also spent large sums in foreign travel. The chief reason why we have 
exported more than we have imported is, that we have been borrowing for- 
eign capital to use in constructing railroads and factories and in developing 
our farms and mines. Prior to 1876, we received $1,084,339,912 more than 
we exported ; we accumulated a large foreign debt. Since 1876, we have 
continued to borrow abroad ; but we have been able to liquidate a part of our 
former debts, and also to .xchange large amounts of commodities and pre- 
cious metals for capital ; for, since 1876, our exports have exceeded our 
imports by $3,517,054,671. If our present large excess of exports over im- 
ports continues, we shall soon become a creditor nation with large sums 
invested abroad. 

The history of our foreign trade is highly gratifying to our national pride ; 
our achievements have been signal, well-nigh continuous, and have been more 
marked during the latter decades of the century than at any previous time. 
The history of the American marine, however, presents a somewhat different 
picture. 



506 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



VI. THE AMERICAN MARINE IN FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC COMMERCE. 

In colonial days maritime industries held an important place. The loca- 
tion of the colonies adjacent to the ocean, their dependence upon the mother 
country for manufactures and upon the West Indies for tropical products, 
their need of foreign markets for their timber, fish, tobacco, and food pro- 
ducts, and their abundant supply of lumber for shipbuilding, all tended to 
make them a seafaring people. This fondness for the sea was especially 
intense in New England, where the returns of agriculture were relatively 
meagre. The long Revolutionary War destroyed many ships and interfered 
seriously with ocean commerce, but the struggle gave the colonists what was 
of more value than ships, — a spirit of venture and hardihood. Hundreds of 
ships and thousands of seamen engaged in privateering, and when the war 
ended the maritime instincts of the Americans were stronger than they had 
been when the declaration of political and commercial independence was 
declared in 1776. 

The imbecility of the general government under the Articles of Confedera- 
tion and the restrictions placed upon interstate traffic prevented any consid- 
erable maritime progress between the Peace of Paris and the inauguration of 
a truly national government under the Constitution. But a stable govern- 
ment, sound credit, and uniform national laws for the regulation of commerce 
gave the maritime instincts of the Americans a chance to assert themselves, 
and the tonnage of our ships grew rapidly larger. Our tonnage registered 
for the foreign trade was only 123,893 tons in 1789 ; by 1795 it had grown to 
549,471 tons ; in 1800 it amounted to 667,107 tons ; during the next five years 
it increased to 744.224 tons, and by 1810 it had i-eaehed 981.019 tons. Such 
a growth as this in twenty years, from such small beginnings, was truly 
remarkable. 

The American ships soon crowded most foreign vessels out of our com- 
merce. In 1790 we carried only 40.5 per cent of our imports and exports ; 
but by 1795 we had secured 90 per cent ; and, with the exception of a short 
period during and immediately following the War of 1812, it was not till 
fifty-two years later that as much as one fourth of our foreign trade was car- 
ried under foreign flags. Moreover, Ave not only carried our own commerce, 
but we also entered largely into the carrying trade of other countries. The 
great European war crippled the commercial activities of European countries, 
and made it easier for our ships to gain control of our own commerce and to 
secure employment as carriers for foreign merchants. During the fifteen 
years from 1793, the year of the outbreak of the European war, to 1808, 
when the blockade of European ports and the capture of American ships and 
seamen led us to attempt to prohibit our ships temporarily from engaging in 
foreign trade, our merchant marine rose from a position of obscurity to a 
place of great prominence on the high seas. 

As long as ocean commerce was carried in wooden vessels, the maritime 
interests of the United States continued to prosper. The War of 1812-15, 
the panic of 1819, and the competition of foreign vessels after the restora- 
tion of peace in Europe, gave our marine a setback, so that it was not until 
1847 that our tonnage in the foreign trade exceeded the figures for 1810 ; but 
during the period of fifteen years, from 1846 to 1861, our tonnage increased 



THE CENTURY'S COMMERCIAL PROGRESS 507 

150 per cent. When the Civil War, which proved so disastrous to the ship- 
ping interests of the United States, broke out in 1861, our tonnage registered 
in the foreign trade equaled 2,496,894 tons, — the highest point it has ever 
reached. The American sailing clipper was for nearly half a century the 
mistress of the seas. As J. R. Soley says : " It was in these ships that for 
nearly half a century not only the largest freights of the world were car- 
ried, but the hnest and most profitable as well. Merchants having valuable 
cargoes to export would wait for the sailing of a favorite clipper, and mer- 
chants with goods to import would instruct their correspondents to wait in 
like manner." As late as 1850 the higher grades of commodities were almost 
always shipped in the stanch and speedy American clipper ship. 

Since 1861 the American marine in the foreign trade has played a role of 
decreasing importance. Three causes account for this. About the middle 
of the century our commercial rivals began to substitute iron ships for 
wooden ; but we were not able to adopt the better material in the construc- 
tion of our ships because of the high cost of iron in this country at that 
time. Great Britain could build the iron ships much cheaper than we could, 
and she soon began to displace us in the carrying trade of the other coun- 
tries. And it was not long before she began also to carry a large share of 
our own foreign commerce.' 

The second cause for our maritime decline was the Civil War. In 1861 
our tonnage registered for the foreign trade was 2,500,000 tons ; by 1866 it 
had fallen to 1,387.756 tons, a loss of over a million tons. During the war 
period, nearly 800,000 tons of our shipping were sold abroad ; 110,000 tons 
were captured by Confederate cruisers ; and other casualties occurred. Of 
course there were no ships built for our merchant marine during the stormy 
years of the war. 

Why, it may be asked, did we not restore our ships after the war and 
regain our former proud place on the high seas ? For the simple, though 
possibly unsatisfying, reason that we did not find it profitable to do so. 
Capital is invested where the prospects for profit are best, and the induce- 
ment to put money into American ships for the foreign trade was not strong. 
It still cost more to build ships in our country than it did in Europe, and the 
expenses of operating them when constructed were greater. Moreover, our 
rivals had gotten possession of the lion's share of the world's carrying trade, 
and would not release any portion of their business without a keen struggle. 
At the same time the American capitalist was offered many opportunities 
for the investment of his property in domestic enterprises. During the quar- 
ter of a century which followed the war, we devoted our energies and capital 
to building our railroads, opening the West, exploiting our mineral and forest 
resources, and building the mills and factories whose products are now rapidly 
entering foreign markets in all parts of the world. America's economic 
activities were industrial rather than commercial. 

The result of these general causes has been the decline of our shipping in 
the foreign trade from two and a half million tons in 1861 to less than three 
quarters of a million tons in 1898 ; but it seems that the low-water mark 
has been reached and that the tide is turning. The man who writes the his- 
tory of our merchant marine on the high seas during the first half of the 
twentieth century will, in all probability, write a record of rapid progress. 



508 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

We have already made much headway in substituting steel for wooden ships \ 
and America's foremost iron manufacturer, Mr. Andrew Carnegie, says that 
steel ships can now be built as cheaply on our Atlantic coast as they can 
be built on the Clyde. Furthermore, the opportunities for investment in 
domestic industries are becoming fewer and less alluring, and there are good 
reasons for thinking American capitalists will be disposed from now on to 
put their ventures in ships to sail foreign seas. 

The attitude of American capitalists, however, will depend very largely 
on the maritime policy adopted by the United States. That policy should 
unquestionably be as liberal as the policy adopted by our rivals in commerce. 
Whatever differences of opinion may rightly exist as regards specific mea- 
sures for the restoration of the American marine to the high seas, all parties 
should agree as touching the justice and necessity of treating our maritime 
interests as generously as Great Britain deals with the owners of her mighty 
marine. 

Our domestic marine, being free from foreign competition, has had a pro- 
sperity as great as the adversity of our foreign marine. The present tonnage 
of domestic shipping is nearly 4,000,000 tons, our growth during the period 
since the Civil War having been nearly a million tons. The traffic on our 
northern lakes now employs 3256 vessels, canal boats, and barges, with a 
total tonnage of 1,437,500 tons ; and two thirds of this tonnage consists of 
steamships. In 1888 our lake tonnage was only 874,102 tons ; the growth 
during a decade having been nearly 80 per cent. 

It is hardly necessary to remark that the increase or decrease in the 
efficiency of a marine during the last few decades is not measured by the 
growth or decline in the tonnage statistics. The modern steamship, aided 
by the many commercial auxiliaries that facilitate it in receiving and dis- 
charging its cargo, is a much more efficient transportation agent than was its 
smaller predecessor propelled by sails, and loaded and unloaded mainly by 
human labor. Our present domestic marine of 4,000,000 tons is at least 
twice as effective as was the domestic shipping of 3,000,000 by which we 
were served a generation ago. 

VII. AMERICAN SHIPBUILDING. 

One great aid to the achievement of maritime greatness is a strong ship- 
building industry, and every nation with commercial aspirations endeavors 
to establish the business upon a sure foundation. For some countries, as in 
the case of the United Kingdom, that is much easier than for others ; and 
that is one reason why Great Britain has so easily succeeded in maintaining 
her place as mistress of the seas. 

The business of building ships in the United States, to be used in foreign 
trade, has passed through a golden age of triumphs, followed by a period of 
decline and discouragement, and it is now entering upon an epoch of revival. 
The golden age came in the days of wooden vessels. It began in early colo- 
nial times and lasted until the middle of this century, when the world began 
to buy iron ships of the United Kingdom. The magnitude of our shipbuild- 
ing industry at the middle of the nineteenth century is indicated by the fact 
that during the decade beginning with 1850 the tonnage built in our yards 
equaled 3,988,372 tons, an annual average of nearly 400,000 tons. During 
the three years 1854-56 we constructed over a million and a half tons. 



510 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

The decline in American shipbuilding set in sharply after the Civil War, 
and, in spite of the continued growth of our domestic marine, the tonnage 
constructed by American builders steadily declined until 1886, when only 
95,453 tons were built. The causes of this decline have been stated in what 
has been said regarding the substitution of iron and steel vessels for wooden. 
The period of decline seems now to be safely passed, for we are annually 
building over 200,000 tons on an average, and every indication points to rapid 
progress in the near future. 

What is more indicative of progress than the increase in the tonnage con- 
structed is the growth in the percentage of steamers and iron and steel ships 
built, as compared with the wooden sailing ships turned out. During the 
decade 1872-81, we built 800,000 tons of steamers and 224,000 tons of iron 
and steel ships ; in the decade following, we constructed 1,200,000 steam 
tons and 485,000 tons of iron and steel vessels ; and from 1891 to 1898 our 
yards turned out 730,432 tons of steamships and 543,850 tons of iron and 
steel vessels. As these figures indicate, the reconstruction of our merchant 
marine is progressing with a fair degree of rapidity. At the present time 
one half our tonnage consists of steamers ; but our percentage of iron and 
steel is still small as compared with other countries. Over seven tenths of 
our tonnage consists of wooden ships, whereas our chief commercial rival 
has practically no wOoden vessels whatever. Only 7 per cent of the French 
marine consists of wooden ships, and in the case of Germany less than 5 per 
cent. 

The outlook for iron and steel shipbuilding is so promising that a rapid 
increase in iron and steel tonnage is certain to come. Largely through the 
influence of the reconstruction of our navy, numerous large plants for the 
construction of steel ships have been established at Bath, Philadelphia, Wil- 
mington, Baltimore, Newport News, San Francisco, and other seaports. 
Cities on the Mississippi River, and especially those on the Great Lakes, 
are engaged in building ships of iron and steel. There are several steel 
plants in the Lake ports, and in them we have built the larger part of our 
steel tonnage. Our iron ships have been built chiefly in the seaboard yards. 
During the present year, 1899, the American yards are busy constructing 
vessels both for the navy and for our merchant fleet, and new yards are being 
established. Having begun selling crude and structural iron and steel and 
various classes of machinery in Europe, even in Great Britain, we shall ere 
long be selling iron and steel ships. The excellence of our navy has brought 
us orders for war ships, and the skill and invention of our shipbuilders will 
bring us foreign orders for merchantmen. 

VIII. CAUSES ACCOUNTING FOR THE CENTURY'S COMMERCIAL PROGRESS. 

The commercial progress of the nineteenth century, the salient phases of 
which have been depicted in the foregoing pages, has been the result of three 
sets of causes, economic, political, and social. 

The economic causes of most importance are the improvements in trans- 
portation, the reorganization of industry on a large scale, the accumulation 
of capital, together with the growth of corporations and credit institutions 
whereby the utility of capital has been enhanced, and the discovery of large 
stores of gold. 



X THE CENTURY'S COMMERCIAL PROGRESS 511 

Transportation is the handmaid of trade. Whatever enables this hand- 
maid to do her work cheaper and quicker enlarges the scope and volume of 
the world's commerce. When one considers that it cost nearly four times as 
much in 1875 to ship wheat from New York to Liverpool as it did twenty- 
years later, and fully three times as much from Chicago to Liverpool, one 
can readily understand how transportation has removed hindrances to com- 
merce. 

Cheap and rapid transportation has made an extensive commerce possible, 
but it has been the organization of industry on a large scale that has created 
the chief demand for commerce. Industry at the present time is, to a large 
extent, so organized as best to promote the territorial and international 
division of labor ; and each large producer regards the whole world as his 
market. The amount of commerce required increases with the concentration 
and specialization of industry, and with every widening of the producer's 
market. 

It has been the accumulation of capital and its increased availability for 
purposes of production that have made possible the organization of industry 
on its present basis, and enabled men to construct the highly developed 
transportation system by means of which commerce is accomplished. The 
material progress of the past century is unprecedented. Industry has created 
wealth as with the touch of a magic wand ; and this rapidly growing wealth 
has been made available capital through the instrumentality of the corpora- 
tion which, by means of stocks and bonds, has gathered into giant organi- 
zations the property of hundreds and even thousands of individuals. The 
industrial corporations have been greatly assisted in their work of concen- 
trating and applying capital, by the banks and other institutions that have 
enlarged credit and made a given amount of property capable of performing 
a much larger work. The expansion of industrial credits, furthermore, has 
been greatly facilitated by the issue of government bonds in large amounts 
during the century. These state obligations constitute excellent business 
securities, of which banks, other corporations, and individuals make exten- 
sive use. Such are some of the factors that have promoted the accumulation 
of capital and increased the volume of commerce. 

Money is not capital, but an adequate supply of a sound and stable medium 
of exchange is essential to industrial and commercial progress. Twice in the 
history of the world the discovery of large supplies of the precious metals 
has given a great impetus to industry and trade : once, in the sixteenth cen- 
tury, when the Spanish galleys brought to Europe rich treasure from the 
silver mines of America ; and again, in the middle of the nineteenth century, 
when the rich finds of gold were made in Australia and California. The 
very rapid increase in the commerce of the United States and of the world 
at large, which began about 1850, was in no small degree the result of the 
rising prices which followed the discoveries of gold. The closing decade of 
the century is witnessing a similar occurrence. For many years prices de- 
clined rapidly ; the demands made upon the world's gold supply were rapidly 
increased at a time when the annual output was declining. From 1850 to 
1870 the annual output of gold averaged over $130,000,000 ; it then declined 
so rapidly that it amounted to only a little over $100,000,000 a year, in 1885 
and 1886. It was only $118,848,700 in 1890 ; but the present annual pro- 
33 



512 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

duction is nearly $300,000,000, and the fall in prices has been checked for a 
while at least. The very rapid enlargement in commerce during the past 
two years must have been facilitated by the recent increase in the annual 
production of gold. 

A second general cause accounting for the world's progress in commerce 
is political — the commercial policy followed by the leading nations of the 
world. Up to the nineteenth century, practically every country strove to 
promote its trade, navigation interests, and its power as a nation by means 
of the mercantile system, — a system of strict and detailed regulation of 
foreign trade by means of tariffs and navigation laws. Each country strove 
to determine the nature of its international trade, and endeavored to carry 
on its commerce in its own ships. In the case of one country, at least, the 
mercantile system was eminently successful. Great Britain entered the 
great Napoleonic wars with a powerful naval and merchant marine, and 
emerged from that struggle the unquestioned mistress of the ocean. Her 
industries also, as well as her ships, were stronger than those of other coun- 
tries ; and she soon concluded that both her foreign trade and her shipping 
would profit by doing away with the restrictions of the mercantile system, 
and adopting the policy of entire commercial freedom. She made no mistake, 
for her industries and commerce have wonderfully prospered. 

The success of free trade and freedom of commerce in the United King- 
dom had much influence upon other countries, and, during the third quarter 
of the nineteenth century, several countries began to move cautiously in the 
direction that the United Kingdom had taken. They soon found, however, 
that for them free trade and shipping meant British trade and shipping, 
because of their inability to compete successfully with their powerful rival ; 
and, during the last quarter of the century, the dominant commercial and 
maritime policy outside of the British Isles has been one providing for 
the regulation of trade by tariffs, and for the promotion of the mercantile 
marine by postal payments and bounties. At the present time, the two most 
powerful commercial rivals of the United Kingdom are the United States 
and Germany ; and their trade policy is one of regulation instead of freedom. 
It would seem, therefore, judging by results, that both the United Kingdom 
and her competitors have acted wisely, and that in both cases the means 
adopted were such as conditions demanded. 

The third cause of the world's commercial progress during the past cen- 
tury has been colonial expansion. Germany, France, and other countries, 
influenced by the great success of the United Kingdom, have established 
colonies in different parts of the world, and assumed control over uncivilized 
peoples, until there are now 125 colonies, protectorates, and dependencies. 
These 125 regions comprise two fifths of the land surface of the globe, and 
contain one third of its population. These colonies and protectorates import 
annually over $1,500,000,000 worth of commodities, and of this large sum 
more than forty per cent is bought from mother countries. The last nation 
to adopt the policy of colonial expansion is the. United States, her principal 
colony, the Philippine Islands, having been made a part of her possessions, 
because of our desire to secure a larger share of the trade of the Orient. 



THE CENTURY'S COMMERCIAL PROGRESS 513 

IX. THE TWENTIETH CENTURY PROSPECT. 

The world is entering upon the twentieth century with the nations of the 
earth bound to each other by much closer relations than existed a hundred 
years ago, and chief among the forces that draw the countries of the world 
together is commerce. It is commerce, more than anything else, that has 
brought about the existing organization of industry in which each nation is 
dependent upon every other. 

The nations of the world are mutually dependent, but their interests are 
not identical. In the future, as they have done in the past, nations will com- 
pete with each other, each striving to secure for itself a maximum of economic 
advantage ; and this competition will continue to take the form of commercial 
rivalry. The great international struggles of the present day are being car- 
ried on to secure trade advantages ; and at no time in the past have those 
contests been more earnest than they now are. The conflicts of the twen- 
tieth century will be commercial struggles, and they will be intense. 

In the centuries when Phoenicia, Greece, Carthage, Rome, and Venice were 
successively powerful, the Mediterranean was the theatre of commercial 
activity and international rivalry. The navigators and explorers, whose ex- 
ploits closed the mediaeval period and inaugurated the modern era, carried 
the world's commerce from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic and trans- 
ferred the centres of national greatness from the southern to the western and 
northern nations of Europe. The great industrial countries of the present 
are those of Europe and America adjacent to the North Atlantic. These 
countries originate the larger part of the world's commerce ; and the main 
streams of international trade are those which connect these countries with 
each other and with those regions of the earth less highly developed indus- 
trially. 

The Isthmus of Suez, just north of the Tropic of Cancer, and the Isthmus 
of Panama, a short distance south of that line, were the only barriers which 
nature placed across an otherwise continuous water route around the earth 
in the northern hemisphere. These barriers diverted the lines which the 
world's largest volume of traffic tends to follow far to the south around 
Africa and South America, or did so until 1869, when Em-ope overcame the 
barrier of most consequence to her by the construction of the Suez Canal. 
Since the opening of that waterway Europe has enjoyed advantages for inter- 
national trade superior to those enjoyed by our country. Our regions most 
highly developed industrially are tributary to the Atlantic and Gulf of 
Mexico. To the east of us lies Europe, a region of great industrial advance- 
ment, demanding little more than our surplus food products and raw mate- 
rials ; to the south are the countries of the South Atlantic lying along the 
line of the world's secondary commercial routes ; countries, moreover, whose 
trade we can secure only in direct competition with Europe, which has 
already forestalled us at many points. In pushing their trade westward the 
industrial States of the United States — and they are found in the eastern 
half of our country — find that the possibilities of a traffic by land are re- 
stricted within narrow bounds by the heavy costs of a long haul over the 
elevated Cordilleran Mountain ranges, while shipments by water have to take 
the circuitous and expensive route around South America. Until an isth- 



514 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

niian canal is constructed the United States will be handicapped in its com- 
petition with Europe for the trade of all countries bordering the Pacific 
Ocean. 

The United States looks forward to the coming century, confident of shar- 
ing largely in the world's commerce. With an enormous and rapidly growing 
foreign trade, and with her industries sending their wares into all quarters 
of the globe, the future of her trade is certain. Shall we also become a great 
maritime nation ? Shall we be as successful in the age of steel steamships 
as we were in the days when our clipper-ships, " those strong-winged gulls in 
timber, put swift girdles around the earth ? " Unquestionably, yes ! The 
commercial advantages which our rivals have possessed for half a century 
have nearly all disappeared. Our maritime instincts are not dead ; and when 
we again turn our attention in earnest to the work of international naviga- 
tion, we shall " win anew the wide-reaching seas our sires loved and occupied 
so well." 



EDUCATION DURING THE CENTURY 

By FRANKLIN S. EDMONDS, A.M., 
Asst. Prof, of Political Science, Central High School, Philadelphia. 

The nineteenth century has been characterized by a deep and abiding 
interest in popular education. One hundred years ago there were many 
close observers who strongly opposed all attempts to provide schools for 
' the masses, lest they should be educated above their station in life. This 
feeling was particularly strong in conservative countries like England. It 
led the Duke of Wellington to remark to one who was explaining to him 
the work of Joseph Lancaster, " Take care what you are about ; for unless 
you base all this on religion, you are only making so many clever devils." 
So careful a critic as Alexis de Tocqueville, after his visit to the United 
States in 1831, wrote to Jared Sparks : " Are the effects of education uni- 
formly good ? Does not a man who obtains an education above his social 
condition become an unquiet citizen ? " The first triumph of the nineteenth 
century was the conquest of this fear ; and there is to-day a general belief 
that it is the duty of each community to provide a well-developed school 
system, that each child may have an opportunity for making the best and 
highest use of his powers and capabilities. 

Perhaps no single element has contributed more to this change in the 
popular attitude towards schools than the writings of the great group of 
thinkers who, with lofty ideals and keen acumen, have devoted themselves 
to the study and discussion of educational questions. Germany has been 
foremost in its contributions to educational literature. Foremost in time 
as in influence is John Henry Pestalozzi (1746-1827). Although endowed 
with an " unrivaled incapacity for government," Pestalozzi has yet become 
an inspiration to modern pedagogy, because of his love for teaching and 
the tender sympathy of his nature. After various educational experiments, 
he opened, in 1805, a school at Yverdun, on the Lake of Neufchatel, which 
soon won for him a European reputation, and became a centre of interest 
to educators from all Europe. The Emperor of Russia gave him a personal 
proof of his favor, and Fichte, the great German philosopher, declared that 
he saw in Pestalozzi and his labors the dawning of a new era for humanity. 
In his writings and in his teaching Pestalozzi emphasized the importance of 
the home in education ; he asserted the truth that all instruction is based 
on observation : " Neither books nor any product of human skill, but life 
itself, yields the basis for all education ; " and in a general way he aimed to 
develop the child through his own personal activity, rather than to furnish 
him with useful facts. 

The most eminent of Pestalozzi's disciples was Friedrich Froebel (1782- 
1852), the founder of the kindergarten. After a varied career as a forester, 
student at Jena, etc., Froebel went to Yverdun in 1808, and for two years 
was a co-laborer with Pestalozzi. The impulse which he here received never 
lost its force. It brought him to consider the problems of elementary educa- 



516 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

tioti, and finally led, in 1837, to his establishment of the first kindergarten at 
Blankenburg in Thuringia. His idea may be well expressed in his own words, 

— "I can convert children's activities, energies, amusements, occupations, all 
that goes by the name of play, into instruments for my purpose, and therefore 
transform play into work. This work will be education in the true sense 
of the term." His great theory was idealistic — he believed in the unity of 
the universe, in the essential harmony of the world. It was the duty of the 
teacher to fit the child for his place in human society. This could be best 
done if the child was taken at a very early age and prepared for life in an 
ordinary school. The kindergarten, or child-garden, is thus a school where a 
child learns social life, where his play is systematized and his activities are 
directed. The average course of study takes hold of the child when he is 
six years of age ; the kindergarten usually fills in the two preceding years. 
As an educational institution, the kindergarten has met with little public 
support in Europe, although in Paris there are a number of " maternal 
schools," which correspond closely to Froebel's plan. In the United States, 
Miss Elizabeth Peabody became the first apostle of the movement. The idea 
of caring for the children below the regular school-age won instant favor, 
and in a number of large cities kindergartens were opened under private 
auspices. As their success became clearer and more positive, they were taken 
under the control of the public. In 1896-97, the report of the United States 
Commissioner of Education shows that there were 1077 kindergartens in the 
United States connected with the public-school systems of cities having 
more than 4000 population, with an enrollment of 81,916 pupils. The Inter- 
national Kindergarten Union, formed for the purpose of " gathering and dis- 
seminating knowledge of the kindergarten movement throughout the world," 
has aided greatly in stimulating an intelligent interest in Froebel's ideals in 
America. 

None of the great German philosophers has been honored with a more 
loyal cult than Johann Friedrich Herbart (1775-1841), who directed general 
attention to the necessity of studying the principles of education. In his 
writings and lectures while professor at the University of Gottingen, Her- 
bart started an inquiry into the theoretical basis of instruction. He found 
the final aim of all education to centre in the formation of moral character, 
while the keystone of instruction is interest. " The final aim of instruction 
is morality. But the nearer aim which instruction in particular must see 
before itself in order to reach the final one, is many-sidedness of interest." 
Herbart's influence in arousing and directing thought has been most felt in 
Germany, but in America his name has been taken by one of the most active 
educational associations, "The National Herbart Society." 

Next to Germany in its list of great educational thinkers must come Eng- 
land. At the beginning of this century there were no " public schools " in 
England, in the American sense of the term. The great preparatory schools, 

— Eton, Rugby, Harrow, Winchester, etc., — although called "public" by 
the English, were in reality endowed boarding-schools, where as a rule only 
the children of the rich could be found. General education was cared for by 
the village schools under the direction of the vicar of the parish, and usually 
presided over by elderly dames with varied degrees of attainments. At the 
end of the eighteenth century, the work of Andrew Bell and Joseph Lan- 



EDUCATION DURING THE CENTURY 517 

caster began to arouse some interest. Working independently, the one in 
India and the other in London, both developed the same method of providing 
general instruction at a minimum of cost, by using the more advanced pupils 
to instruct the beginners. "By the aid of monitors," said Lancaster, "one 




PESTALOZZI. 

(The Perry Pictures. Copyright, 1898, by E. A. Perry, Maiden, Mass.) 

master can teach a thousand boys." In 1798, Lancaster opened the first 
English school of this kind in Southwark, London, placing this inscription 
over the door : " All that will may send their children and have them edu- 
cated freely, and those that do not wish to have education for nothing may 
pay for it, if they please." In 1808, the Royal Lancasterian Society was organ- 



518 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 

ized, to agitate for more schools ; and although its name was changed, in 1814, 
to British and Foreign School Society, its work has continued down to the 
present time. In 1818, Lancaster came to America, and was at once placed in 
general charge of the public schools of Philadelphia. He was made principal 
of a model school for training teachers, which is believed to have been the 
first attempt at a normal school in America. After extensive agitation in 
New York, in Canada, where in 1829 he received an appropriation from the 
legislature to enable him to start his monitorial schools, and even in South 
America, Lancaster's work was done. 

Probably the greatest teacher of the century in England was Thomas 
Arnold, whose character will long live in literature through the loving por- 
traiture of his pupils. While contributing little of importance to the science 
of pedagogy, he was yet able to work a revolution in the general conception 
of teacher and pupil, and their relations to each other. He insisted that his 
teachers must continue their studies after they had secured positions, and 
so raised professional ideals. ■' The pupil," said he, " must drink from the 
running fountain, and not from the stagnant pool." His sympathy gave 
him rare power to mould the character of boys. He trusted his boys and 
they became worthy of it. '■ It is a shame to tell Arnold a lie ! He always 
believes one," — was the common saying. As a consequence, there went out 
from Kugby School from 1827 to 1842, the years of Arnold's headmastership, 
a group of clean, healthy, whole-souled boys, well fitted to become leaders in 
English life. 

Many contributions have been made to the literature of pedagogy during 
the century, but there is none that has attracted more attention or stimulated 
more earnest discussion than Herbert Spencer's " Education." In the first 
chapter of his book, Spencer asks the question which aroused the educa- 
tional world, — " What knowledge is of most worth ? " It at once directed 
inquiry into the very heart of educational theory. The course of study, the 
order in which subjects should be considered, the time to be given to each, 
— all these problems were vitally concerned with the answer to this ques- 
tion. Mr. Spencer's solution won instant favor: "How to live," said he, 
** that is the essential question for us. . . . And this, being the great thing 
needful for us to learn, is, by consequence, the great thing which education 
has to teach. To prepare us for complete living is the function which educa- 
tion has to discharge." This point of view led to the accenting of useful 
and practical subjects. The human body should be studied, — this is neces- 
sary to fulfill the first law of nature, self-preservation. The natural sciences 
should be an essential part of education : this is necessary for our acquaint- 
ance with the world in which we must live and work. History and social 
science should be studied : that each one may become fully in touch with the 
society in which he forms a unit. Naturally, little time would be left for 
branches that were aesthetic or cultural, and so Spencer would have the stu- 
dent give but his surplus time to these. But the important thing was that he 
should know himself, his world, and his society, so that he would be fitted to 
do his work in the most complete way. His practical influence upon educa- 
tion is best seen in the great increase of appreciation for the natural sciences, 
which has led to the introduction of nature observation and study, even in 
the most elementary schools. 



EDUCATION DURING THE CENTURY 



519 



In America there have been important contributions to educational theory 
during the century. There has been a perfect flood of educational books, 
pamphlets, and periodicals, whose merit is so great as to extort even reluc- 




FROEBEL, POUNDEK OP KINDERGARTENS. 
(The Perry Pictures. Copyright, 1898, by E. A. Perry, Maiden, Mass.) 



tant admiration from foreign critics. While there has been much uneven- 
ness in quality, yet Americans have no reason to feel ashamed of their con- 
tribution to pedagogical literature. The best work has been done in the 
discussion of specific questions, rather than in an elaboration of general 



520 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

ideals. Administration, with its manifold problems, lias appealed strongly to 
the American genius ; and consequently the greatest names of the century are 
those of men who have devoted themselves to some practical work, the ideals 
and details of which they have thoroughly mastered, and so have left endur- 
ing monuments of their lives' work. 

The great achievement of the century in the United States has been the 




DR. THOMAS ARNOLD. OF RUGBY, ENGLAND. 
(Courtesy of The School Journal, New York.) 

establishment of a system of free and public schools. Like most of the 
nation's intellectual impulses, this spirit seems to have come from New Eng- 
land. There, the democratic ideals of the people led to an early apprecia- 
tion of the necessity for universal education. There can be little doubt that 
it was from the Puritan settlements in Massachusetts that the original im- 
pulse toward universal education came. Thus, in 1647, the Colonial Assem- 
bly required that each town containing one hundred families should establish 



EDUCATION DURING THE CENTURY 



521 



a grammar school to prepare youths for the university. During colonial 
times more and more schools were steadily established. But the movement, 
which was zealously supported in New England and encouraged in the Mid- 
dle States, especially by the Friends, met with opposition in the South, where 
education was considered a family duty, and not within the province of the 
State. Whatever, therefore, was accomplished in an educational line prior 
to the Revolution depended upon the spirit of the individual colonies ; con- 
sequently, there was the widest possible divergence in the policies and 
methods of different localities. 

But as soon as the Revolution had been accomplished, and independence 
had become a fact, a renewed interest in general education was evident. It 
is exceedingly interesting to watch the development of the point of view 
that free schools were a necessity for the existence of the republic, and 
hence must be established by the State. The early fathers of the nation 







^••f?^-^*f 










M 



AN OLD LOG SCHOOLHOUSE. 



were not slow to recognize this. In the words of Franklin, " A Bible and 
newspaper in every house, a good school in every district — all studied and 
appreciated as they merit — are the principal support of virtue, morality, and 
civil liberty." " In proportion as the structure of a government gives force 
to public opinion," said Washington, " it is necessary that public opinion 
should be enlightened." And Jefferson, with his broad philosophical appre- 
ciation of democracy, started the battle against the ideas of Governor Berke- 
ley, of Virginia, when, in 1779, he introduced into the General Assembly of 
Virginia a bill providing for the establishment of schools "for the free train- 
ing of all free children, male and female." 

The half century from 1790 to 1840 is the period of the battle for free pub- 
lic schools. It was a hard fight, complicated in many States by local questions 
and conditions that rendered success almost hopeless. Some opposed from 
the old point of view that education was an individual matter, — each should 
get for himself just so much as was possible. Others raised the objection of 
cost, — if taxation was proposed, was it right to take money from one group 
to educate the children of another ? Religious disputes hindered progress, 



522 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

— many of the denominations had founded sectarian schools, and were un- 
willing to see them replaced by public schools, where no creed would be 
taught. Especially, in some States, as in Pennsylvania, where Swede, Ger- 
man, Scotch, Irish, and English lived side by side, did the race problem enter 
as a perplexing element. Should any language other than English be taught ? 
What respect should be given to the traditions and customs of each race- 
group ? Moreover, when the conservatism began to yield to progress, it 
compromised with great reluctance. At first, provision was made Avhereby 
the children of the poor should have their school fees paid by the State. 
Then public schools were started exclusively for the poor, which Avere branded 
with the stigma of " pauper schools." But these difficulties only seiwed to 
increase the ardor of the public-school advocates, and at length their success 
was complete. 

Some episodes of the struggle deserve special mention. Horace Mann 
(1796-1859) has been called the St. Paul of education in America. In 1837, 
the State Board of Education was created in Massachusetts, and Horace Mann 
was appointed its first secretary. For twelve years he labored with unflag- 
ging energy to build up the public interest in education. By speech and by 
pen, he awakened in his State an appreciation of the value of the public 
school system that has never since decayed. He established on an enduring 
basis the business side of education in the State, by systematizing the school 
funds. The personal sacrifice was enormous. He addressed public meetings 
all over the country. When he found that no arrangements had been made 
at Pittsfield to prepare the schoolhouse for his meeting, Horace Mann and 
Governor Briggs themselves swept out the building and set it in order. One 
of his first interests was the provision of good teachers. In order to spur 
the Assembly to its duty, he begged from his friends the sum of $10,000, 
which, with an equal sum appropriated from the state treasury, was used in 
the establishment of the Massachusetts normal schools at Lexington and 
Barre (1839). Outside of his administrative work, his fame must rest upon 
his stanch advocacy of the principle of " the obligation of a State, on the 
great principles of natural law and natural equity, to maintain free schools 
for the universal education of its people." 

In Pennsylvania, the hero of the battle for free schools was Thaddeus 
Stevens. In 1834, a law was passed by the legislature establishing a state 
system, and abolishing the distinction between rich and poor which had been 
noticed in the old pauper schools. Two years later, a determined effort was 
made by the combined forces of ignorance, prejudice, and caste, to repeal the 
act of 1831. Nothing but the stanchness of Governor Wolf and the power 
exerted by the eloquence of the " Old Commoner " saved free schools for the 
Keystone State, and so established the system which to-day receives more 
direct aid from the state treasury than in any other State of the Union. 

West of the Alleghanies, the interest in popular education has always 
been deep and thorough. Settled in large measure by the steady sons of 
New England, education found there a most fertile soil. Moreover, by the 
wise foresight of Congress, provision was made for school funds in a most 
satisfactory way. The Ordinance of 1787, which organized the territory 
north of the Ohio River, contained a provision that one section of land in 
each township should be devoted to public education. If this grant, which 



EDUCATION DURING THE CENTURY 523 

was originally suggested by Jefferson, had been carefully watched, it would 
have been sufficient to endow the public schools of many Western States. 
The national government gave to education in the first hundred years of its 
history nearly eighty million acres of public lands, but these grants were not 
always conserved with sufficient care. In 1896-97 the total revenue of the 
school systems in the United States was $188,641,243, of which less than 
five per cent was from state school funds or rent of school lands, while over 
eighty-six per cent was derived from state and local taxation. 

Some little conception of the immensity of the common-school system in 
the United States may be obtained from the following statistics, taken from 
the Report of the Commissioner of Education for 1896-97. 

COMMON-SCHOOL STATISTICS OF THE UNITED STATES 
(NOT INCLUDING PRIVATE SCHOOLS, COLLEGES, OR UNIVERSITIES). 

1870-71 1896-97 

I. — General Statistics. Approximate 

Total population 39,500,500 71,374,142 

Number of persons 5 to 18 years of age 12,305,600 21,082,472 

Number of different pupils enrolled on the school registers 7,561,582 14,652,492 

Per cent of total population enrolled 19.14 20.53 

Average daily attendance 4,545,317 10,089,620 

Average length of school term (days) 132.1 140.4 

Male teachers 90,293 131,386 

Female teachers 129,932 271,947 

Whole number of teachers 220,225 403,333 

Per cent of male teachers 41.0 32.6 

Average monthly wages of teachers : 

Males (averaged from the statistics of 43 States) $44.62 

Females (averaged from the statistics of 43 States) $38.38 

Number of schoolhouses 132,119 246,828 

Value of school property $143,818,703 $469,069,086 

II. — Financial Statistics. 
Receipts: 

Income from permanent funds $7,846,648 

From state taxes 35,062,533 

From local taxes 127,960,761 

From all other sources 17,771,301 

Total receipts 188,641,243 

Expenditures: 

For sites, buildings, furniture, libraries, and apparatus $31,903,245 

For salaries of teachers and superintendents $42,580,853 119,303,542 

For all other purposes 36,113,815 

Total expenditures $69,107,612 $187,320,602 

Expenditure per capita of population 1*75 2.62 

Total expenditure per pupil 15.20 18.57 

To these grand totals must be added the million and more in attendance at 
private schools throughout the country, and the rapidly increasing number 
(now 217,763) of those who receive higher instruction, in universities and 
professional and normal schools. This makes for the United States a grand 
total of 16,255,093 pupils and students of all grades in public and private 
schools. The growth during the last generation has been most marked. 
The statistical table gives an opportunity for comparison with the year 



624 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



1870-71, — the span of a generation, — and it has been estimated that 
within this period the average total amount of schooling has increased from 
2.91 years to 4.28 years. In other words, the amount of education which 




SCHOOLHOUSE, SLEEPY HOLLOW, N. T. 
(Courtesy of The School Journal, New York.) 



each one felt able to afford has increased almost one half. Such is the mag- 
nificent result which has grown out 1 of the isolated village schools of our 
New England ancestors, fostered by the democratic desire for intelligence 
found all over the country. 

Equally great has been the change in the spirit of the school. In the 
early days the schools were very crude. Population was scattered, and since 
the children could not go as far to school as their elders did to church, the 
number of schoolhouses was very great. They were usually put up by the 
people of the neighborhood with little pretense at adornment. The average 
schoolhouse was located either at a fork in the roads or on an elevation, 
where it shared, with the church, the honor of conspicuousness. We give 
a picture of Old Sleepy Hollow Schoolhouse, made famous by Washington 
Irving's elaborate description of Ichabod Crane, its ruler in the colonial 
days. But a structure of this kind is luxurious compared with the hard- 
ships of more sparsely settled regions. From Wickersham's " History of 
Education in Pennsylvania" the following description is culled: "The pio- 
neer schoolhouse was built of logs, sixteen by twenty feet, seven feet to 
the ceiling, daubed with mud inside and out, a mud and stick chimney in the 
north end, and in the west a log was left out, and the opening covered with 
oiled paper to admit light ; holes were bored in the logs and pins driven 
in, on which to nail a long board for a writing-table, and slabs with legs 
answered for seats. The early schoolhouses were generally situated near 



EDUCATION DURING THE CENTURY 



525 



the roadside or cross-roads, being without playground, shade-trees, or appa- 
ratus." 

Here the master kept his country school for a term of from six to twelve 
weeks. In the winter time the pupils were almost frozen, and there were 
other dangers which the hardy lad of those days had to encounter. Never- 
theless, rude, uncomfortable, and inadequate as they were, it was here that 
our forefathers obtained their scanty schooling. The three It's, Eeadin', 
Ritin', and 'Eithmetic, formed the basis of the course of study. Methods 
were very simple. Much of the early instruction was religious in its trend, 
and the child was expected to use books which would teach moral lessons. 
Church books, containing creeds and hymns and catechisms, might be used 
in the school for study. Then there were the primers or books to teach the 
ABC. The famous " New England Primer " was published in the latter part 
of the seventeenth century. Later editions contained rhyming couplets upon 
each letter of the alphabet, illustrated with such imagery as the art would 
allow. A page from the " Child's Guide,"' published in London in 1762, is 
shown on page 527. Its verses were easily memorized, and sometimes gave a 
basis for a spelling lesson. There were no graded readers until this century. 

Writing in some neighborhoods was taught only to boys, on the general 
ground that it was an unnecessary accomplishment for the sex which never 
engaged in business. Ink was home-made from bruised nutgalls placed in a 
bottle with water and rusty nails. The writing was done with a quill pen, 
and one of the foremost duties of the old-fashioned pedagogue was to make 
and mend pens. 




INTERIOR OP SCHOOLROOM, SLEEPY HOLLOW. N. Y. 

(Courtesy of The School Journal, New York.) 



The master set the copies by writing a lesson which was to be imitated by 
the pupils. There was no set style, but usually the teacher wrote a bold, 
legible hand which in time was acquired with a fair degree of success. 



526 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

Arithmetic was taught without text-books. Sums were given out by the 
master and worked out on paper on the desk. Nothing but the more rudi- 
mentary principles was taught, and the higher branches of algebra and 
geometry were unknown in the public schools of this time. Spelling was 
one of the favorite studies. It gave free scope for the memory, and provided 
an opportunity for one of those public exhibitions in which Americans have 
always delighted. " Spelling on the book," says Wickersham, " was taught 
by attempting to lead the pupil to give the names of syllables and words by 
naming the letters of which they are composed. The first lesson consisted 
of combinations of a word with one or more consonants, arranged so that a 
kind of rhyme aided the pronunciation, as ab, eb, ib, etc." ..." Spelling off 
the book " consisted in naming the letters of words pronounced for that pur- 
pose. But the chief enjoyment of spelling came from the old-fashioned con- 
tests, or " spelling-bees." Sometimes it was to discover the best speller 
of the district ; again, one district might be pitted against another. The 
spellers would be arranged in two rows. The first word would be given to 
the first speller on one side, the next to his rival, the third to his comrade, 
and so on. If one missed a word, he at once took his seat ; presently the 
contest would narrow down to a few, until at last all would have missed save 
one, and he or she became the champion speller. 

The teachers of the time formed a group of varied attainments, and often- 
times with little professional enthusiasm. Teaching has always suffered 
from the fact that a great number of young men enter upon its practice, who 
use it merely as a stepping-stone to some other and more attractive pursuit. 
The number of those who have taught a few terms, in order to save money 
for a college, law, or medical course is legion ; and this fact has laid the 
profession open to the reproach that only the unambitious and the unalert 
follow it permanently. In the early days of our country's history, this 
stigma was intensified by the number of " itinerant schoolmasters," men 
who wandered from place to place, teaching a term in one village and then 
moving to the next, — " odd in dress, eccentric in manners, and oftentimes 
intemperate." Their work was simple in its nature ; they were to keep order 
and to teach the rudiments. Their methods in the latter have already been 
referred to ; for the former, they relied, almost universally, upon the unspar- 
ing use of the rod. 

The wisdom of the practice of flogging has only been questioned in the 
latter part of this century. In the early days it was the one recognized pun- 
ishment, even for students whose maturity and attainments would suggest 
an appeal to reason. With this mode of punishment was associated a more 
or less ingenious series of devices, such as the dunce-block, the fools' cap, 
etc., all calculated to bring the offender into ridicule, but utterly destructive 
of that good feeling between teacher and pupil, upon which so much stress 
is laid to-day. 

In the course of the century the old-fashioned school has either passed 
away or else has been modified materially. To-day it is to be found in only 
sparsely settled districts, while in the cities and in the more cultured neigh- 
borhoods one finds carefully planned systems of education that show the 
fruits of the study and direction of some of the keenest minds that our 
country has produced. While it is impossible in the space of a single chap- 








In Adam's Fall, 
We sinned all. 



This Book attend, 
Thy Life to mend. 



The Cat doth play, 
And after slay. 



The Dog doth bite 
A Thief at Night. 



An Eagle's flight 
Is out of sight. 



The Idle Fool, 

Is whipt at School. 




L. 

The Lyon bold, 
The Lamb doth hold. 

M. 
The Moon gives 

Light, 
In time of Night. 

N. 
Nightingales sing, 
In time of Spring. 

O. 
The Royal Oak our 

King did save, 
From fatal stroke of 
Rebel Slave. 



As runs the Glass, 
Man's Life doth pass. 



My Book and Heart 
Shall never part. 




Jesiis did dye, 
For thee and I. 

K. 
King Charles the 

Good, 
No man of Blood. 

W. 
Whales in the Sea 
God's voice obey. 



Xerxes the Great did die, 
And so must you and I. 




Peter denies 

His Lord, and cries. 

Q. 
Queen Esther came 

in Royal State, 
To save the Jews 

from dismal fate. 

R. 
Rachel doth mourn 
For her first-born. 




Samuel anoints 
Whom God appoints. 

T. 
Time cuts down all, 
Both great and small. 

U. 
Uriah's beauteous 

Wife, 

Made David seek his 

Life. 

Y. 

Youth's forward slips 
Death soonest nips. 

Z. 
Zacchens, he 
Did climb the Tree, 
His Lord to see. 



child's guide. 
(Courtesy of J. Harold Wichtrsham.) 



34 



528 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

ter to refer to all the changes, yet some of the most important will be con- 
sidered. 

Foremost in real importance come the changes in the course of study — in 
the list of subjects which the well-educated young man may be expected to 
have mastered. One hundred years ago the average child would have gone 
to the village school for the three " ll's " with, maybe, a little training in 
geography and parsing. If a college career was open to him, he would then 
go to an academy, usually a private institution, for his introduction to the 
classics, Latin and Greek, and to algebra. While instruction was given in 
other branches, yet these formed the backbone of the course- The average 
age of admission to college was considerably less than it is at present. In 
the ordinary college there was a required course of study, in which Latin, 
Greek, and higher mathematics played the most conspicuous part. The sci- 
entific studies were counted less educative, and were usually rather poorly 
taught. Literature, history, and philosophy were sometimes included in the 
college curriculum, and in many ways the course of study was modeled to 
suit the preferences and abilities of the different teachers. Nowadays this is 
all changed. In the United States a graded school system has been created, 
that is, a complete course of study has been worked out, whereby certain 
studies are specified as suited for each year of the school life. This is not 
the same for all parts of the country, for the American school system, unlike 
that in Germany and France, is not national in its organization. The author- 
ity over the schools is vested in the individual States, and as a consequence 
each State shows peculiarities in course of study, in laws, and in methods 
that make the whole seem chaotic. There is, however, more similarity than 
would appear at first sight, and while what is asserted in general may not 
be true of each particular locality, yet certain lines of development may be 
clearly seen. 

The schools of the country may be divided into three groups, — elementary, 
secondary, and higher. The elementary schools are built in some places upon 
the kindergarten ; they are ordinarily supposed to occupy the first eight or 
nine years of the child's school-life, and are classified as primary and gram- 
mar schools. During that period the pupil studies a great variety of branches, 
— language studies, reacing, writing, spelling, and grammar; arithmetic, geo- 
graphy, United States history, civil government, nature study, physiology and 
hygiene, physical culture, vocal music, drawing and manual training in boys' 
schools, or sewing and cooking in girls' schools. Several of these subjects 
have been introduced only within the last few years. The tendency toward 
enriching the curriculum is quite manifest to-day ; it is based upon the fact 
that by far the larger part of the pupils never enter the higher schools, since 
their education is ended with the elementary schools, therefore it is thought 
desirable to bring some of the higher subjects into the grammar school. 

With the completion of this elementary course the pupil passes into the 
secondary school. Earlier in the century this was ordinarily a private acad- 
emy, either conducted for profit or by a religious society. In exceptional 
cases these schools were public ; but as the benefits of higher education were 
recognized more completely, the popularity of these schools increased enor- 
mously. Public 'high schools were opened, and success led to their rapid 
multiplication, until to-day they form one of the most useful elements in 



EDUCATION DURING THE CENTURY 529 

our system, sending forth year by year leaders of thought and moulders of 
opinion. Their course of study has been the subject of much controversy. 
The old academy prepared for the college ; the new high school prepares for 
life ; consequently there ensued a breach between the high school and the 
college which only now is being closed. The ordinary high-school course is 
four years, and includes languages, Latin, French, German, and sometimes 
Greek and Spanish ; mathematics, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and some- 
times analytical geometry and even astronomy; history, literature, physical 
geography, physics, chemistry, biology, geology, drawing, and occasionally 
political economy, ethics, and civics. It will be noticed that subjects for- 
merly taught only in the colleges have been brought into the high-school 
curriculum. This again is due to the "enriching process," and is illustrative 
of the fact that for so many of its students the high school is the crown of 
their education. The stress laid upon nature study and the physical sciences, 
and the introduction of modern languages, are among the most significant 
changes of the century, as indicative of the desire to bring the schools in 
touch with the conditions of practical life. 

From the high school or academy, the student, passes to the college or uni- 
versity. Within the last decade an attempt has been made to give a definite 
pedagogical content to each of these terms. A college is an institution where 
the liberal arts are studied for purposes of general culture. A university, on 
the other hand, prepares a man for one definite line of work, either profes- 
sional or technical. Both confer degrees upon those who have successfully 
completed their courses, but those of the university (Ph. D., A. M., M. D., 
etc.) are of a higher type than those of the college (A. B., Ph. B.). There 
were twenty-four colleges in the United States in 1800. The six oldest were : 
Harvard, established in 1637 ; William and Mary, 1693 ; Yale, 1701 ; Prince- 
ton, 1746 ; University of Pennsylvania, 1749 ; Columbia, 1754. 

In 1896 there were 472 colleges and universities in the United States, 
representing most of the States and Territories in the Union. Many of 
these are entirely public, being supported by State appropriations ; some 
receive State aid ; others were originally founded by private endowment, but 
have become public in their management ; some are entirely private in both 
endowment and control. Most are non-sectarian, but many require worship 
in accordance with the services of some denomination. In general, all recog- 
nize their lofty function in society and are anxious to discharge it properly. 
Originally aristocratic in many ways, — prior to the Revolution some col- 
leges classifying their students in the catalogue according to the social rank 
of their families, — they have become among the most popular institutions in 
the educational world, largely because of the high worth of their graduates. 

Universities, in the scientific sense of the term, did not exist prior to 1800, 
except in the few medical and law schools and theological seminaries. The 
American conception of the university has been very largely moulded by the 
experience of Germany. The college does not exist as a degree-conferring 
institution in Germany, but its place is taken very largely hy the Gymnasium. 
The German system comprises three grades of schools : 1. Volkschulen (pri- 
mary schools), where the elementary instruction is given. 2. Gymnasia and 
Real-Schulen (secondary schools), which provide a nine years' course for the 
pupil, usually covering the period from ten to nineteen years. The aim of 



530 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

the first is to prepare for the university, while the Real-Schulen fit their 
students for the ordinary business callings of life. 3. Universities, in which 
the studies are arranged in four faculties ; theology, law, medicine, and phi- 
losophy. On account of the thoroughness of the German teaching, many 
American students have gone to Germany for their university course. A 
sincere effort has been made in America to develop universities according to 
the German concept, with its detailed study of particular topics based •on a 
thorough general education. Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, opened 
in 187G, has done most along these lines. 

During the century a determined and successful effort has been made to 
break down the old-fashioned college curriculum, with its absolute and un- 
varying requirements from every student. Harvard University, under the 
leadership of its brilliant executives, Thomas Hill and especially Charles 
W. Eliot, has led the way by providing a series of elective courses from 
which the student might select a sufficient number to make up his roster. 
This has given scope to the exercise of a freedom of choice that has been 
most wholesome in its effects upon both the scholar and university. It has 
led to the neglect of the poor courses and to the encouragement of the good 
ones ; and it has promoted individuality in the different students to a marked 
degree. The success of the elective system, and the development of post- 
graduate courses in the university, taken in connection with the very great 
interest in all the phases of higher education, constitute the chief lines of 
advance during the century. 

It is evident, then, that the student of to-day has a tremendous advantage 
over his fellow of one hundred years ago in the subjects which he may study. 
The courses have been enriched, instruction has been systematized, new sub- 
jects, more closely allied with popular needs, have been developed. But a 
gain which transcends in importance even these alterations in the curri- 
culum, is that which has come through the teacher. 

We have seen that the teacher of our forefathers was a man of doubtful 
attainments and uncertain character, and while there were golden exceptions 
to any general criticism, yet it is beyond question that as a class the teacher- 
ship was not well esteemed. As a rule, there was no stable salary, — the 
teachers " boarded around" at the homes of their pupils or received payment 
in produce from the farmers. At the school he was janitor as well as educa- 
tor. Outside of New England, there was little intelligent supervision of his 
efforts, and, on the whole, very little effective home cooperation. Within 
the century, however, there has been a marked increase in the esteem in 
which the teacher is held, and in the popular appreciation of his work. 
Moreover, to-day, the teacher better deserves esteem and respect. While the 
profession still contains a vast floating element who look forward to a future 
in other lines of work, yet on the whole its members possess a keen interest 
in their work and a desire for professional improvement. A most powerful 
means toward this end has been found in the various teachers' organizations. 
The Institute, with its annual assembly of all teachers within a given dis- 
trict, who for two or three days discuss school questions and listen to lectures 
upon educational topics, has been introduced throughout the whole country 
with great success. The teachers in the various States have organized State 
associations, and there are innumerable voluntary organizations, whose meet- 



EDUCATION DURING THE CENTURY 



531 



ings give each teacher an opportunity for that free contact with others of his 
own kind that is so helpful and so suggestive. 

The oldest educational association in America, maybe in the world, is the 
American Institute of Instruction, organized in 1830. During its nearly 
seventy years of life it has been a vast inspiration to thousands of teachers. 
It has drawn its support chiefly 
from the New England States and 
recently from Canada, but its in- 
fluence is widespread. Annual 
meetings have been held regularly. 
Among its leading spirits, it has 
numbered such men as W. E. Shel- 
don, Francis Wayland, Henry Bar- 
nard, etc. Out of the success of 
the various State associations, and 
perhaps suggested by the necessity 
for more general action, grew the 
National Educational Association. 
founded in 1857, with the objects 
"to elevate the character and ad- 
vance the interest of the profession 
of teaching and to promote the cause 
of popular education in the United 
States." Its first president was Zal- 
mon Richards, and his successors 
have been the foremost educators 
of the country, including James P. 
Wickersham, Emerson E. White, 
William T. Harris, Albert G. Lane, 
Nicholas Murray Butler, Charles R. 
Skinner, etc. Its membership has 

grown from 80 in 1857 to 10,654 (1898), and it has been estimated that some of 
its conventions have brought twenty-five thousand people in their train. In 
spirit it is thoroughly national, meeting in every section of the country in 
turn, so helping to promote uniformity in school ideas. As the Association 
grew larger, and its work became more complicated, its organization became 
involved. To-day it consists of seventeen departments, each of which de- 
votes itself to one phase of education, usually reporting at the annual meet- 
ing. 

Since 1892 the National Educational Association (N. E. A., as it is popu- 
larly called) has appointed three committees to investigate special lines of 
work in separate departments of the school system. The Committee of Ten, 
whose chairman, Charles W. Eliot, was the distinguished President of Har- 
vard University, submitted a most useful report in 1893 on Secondary School 
Studies. In 1895 the Committee of Fifteen, of which Superintendent Win. 
H. Maxwell was chairman, then of Brooklyn but since chosen to be the first 
Superintendent of Schools of " Greater New York," made a valuable report 
on elementary education, including reports of sub-committees on the Train- 
ing of Teachers, Correlation of Studies, and the Organization of City School 




DR. CHARLES WILLIAM ELIOT, 
PRESIDENT OP HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 

(Courtesy of The School Journal, New York.) 



532 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

Systems. In 1897 came the report of the Committee of Twelve on Rural 
Schools, Superintendent Henry Sabin, of Iowa, as chairman. These docu- 
ments have been epoch-making ; they have accumulated a mass of trust- 
worthy information ; they have procured opinion upon a wide variety of 
topics, and their influence upon the general systematization of the school 
system has been enormous. Their additional value lies in the fact that 
they have been prepared by teachers who thoroughly understood the topics 
which were being considered, and they have furnished to educators generally 
that consensus of professional opinion which has been so badly needed in 
America. 

In this work of gathering and disseminating information, a most potent 
part has been played by the national government. The limitations of the 
Constitution left education as a State interest, to be worked out by each 
commonwealth as it should think best. There had always been a general 
desire among teachers for some national organization, and at last, after the 
Civil War, Congress established a department, and then later made a Bureau 
of Education in the Department of the Interior. In 1867 Hon. Henry Bar- 
nard was appointed the first United States Commissioner of Education. A 
wiser choice could not have been made. Dr. Barnard's career in education 
covers a period from 1830, when he was appointed Secretary of the Board of 
School Commissioners in Connecticut, down to the present. Beyond ques- 
tion, his greatest work has been the organization of the National Bureau of 
Education, which to-day is a grand educational clearing-house, sending forth 
in its excellent reports an account of ideas and work of each State to the 
others. Its high efficiency has been due, in a large measure, to the character 
of its commissioners : Henry Barnard, from 1867 to 1870; John Eaton, 1870- 
1886; Nathaniel H. R. Dawson, 1886-1889; William T. Harris, 1889 to date. 
The present incumbent has had the satisfaction of the knowledge that his 
position has been removed from the list of partisan appointments. By his 
tactful prudence and genuine scholarship, Dr. Harris has brought his office 
into touch with every good educational work for a decade, and has made his 
name a synonym for genial wisdom throughout the whole country. 

The teacher has been aided in his work by his professional associations. 
It is, moreover, true that to-day the teacher enters upon his work better 
equipped for his duties. The normal-school system has spread over the 
whole country, and every year thousands of young men and women are sent 
forth with a preparation that fifty years ago was not even dreamed of. 
Since the teacher better deserves respect, he has commanded it the more 
readily. Gradually the barbarisms of the schoolroom have disappeared. 
As the sympathy with education increased, the necessity for excessive flog- 
ging passed away. To-day there is a wide variety in opinion as to the effi- 
ciency of this mode of discipline. In one State, New Jersey, corporal 
punishment in schools is forbidden by law ; but in most of the others it is 
permitted in special cases, as a general part of the teacher's power when in 
loco parentis. The teacher is now paid a regular salary, but unfortunately it 
is the lowest paid in any profession for which formal preparation is required. 
In 1896-97 the average monthly wages of teachers was, for males, $44.62, 
and for females, $38.38. In comparison with the standard of life throughout 
the country, this is poor pay. Superintendent N. C. Schaeffer, of Pennsyl- 



EDUCATION DURING THE CENTURY 



533 



vania, in a recent annual report, states that " one superintendent found that 
there were teachers in his county teaching for four dollars less per year than 
it cost the county on an average to keep one pauper." This is an excep- 
tional case, but it illustrates the general truth. 

One consequence of this low pay has been to accent a tendency which is 
fast removing education from the list of those professions in which men will 
engage. From 1870-71 to 1896-97 the percentage of male teachers decreased 




WITjLTAM T. HARRIS. 
(The Perry Pictures, Copyright, 1898, by E. A. Perry, Maiden, Mass.) 

from 41.0 to 32.6 ; especially is this true in the older States. This is in 
striking contrast with one hundred years ago, when, except in infant schools, 
teachers were almost universally of the male sex. A variety of causes may 
be given for this change. The preeminent fitness of women for guiding the 
child during certain ages is acknowledged. Again, the decline of the rod 
and the introduction of a happy sympathy between teacher and pupil have 
helped the tendency. 

But of all the forces which have contributed to this change, none has been 



534 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



more poteut than the great increase of opportunities for the higher education 
of women. At the beginning of the centur}^ the United States was not be- 
hind European nations in its provision for the education of young women. 
No one thought of making anything like the same provision for both sexes- 
Women were refused admission to the colleges, and were obliged to content 
themselves with an elementary education or else meet the expense of private 
tutorage. Gradually, in protest against this state of things, girls' seminaries 
were opened and girls' high schools were established in the large cities. The 
idea of a seminary, " which should be to young women what the college is to 
young men," was first given definite shape by Mary Lyon, who collected funds 
for that purpose, and in 1837, two hundred years after Harvard, Mount Hol- 
yoke Female Seminary was opened. Its success was complete ; it offered the 








IDEAL SCHOOLHOUSE AND GROUNDS. 
(Courtesy of Agricultural Department, Cornell University.) 



regular English and classical course, and its graduates entered generally into 
the teaching profession. Presently, colleges for women were incorporated, 
of which to-day the best known are Vassar, Wellesley, Smith, and Bryn 
Mawr. As the demand for the higher education of women increased, pre- 
sently it was queried, why may not the two sexes be trained in the same in- 
stitution ? Is there any real necessity for a duplication of plants with the 
consequent weakening of resources ? The West has advanced far beyond 
the East toward co-education. Oberlin College, founded in 1833, opened its 
doors to both sexes from the first, and most of the institutions that derive 
their spirit from the West have followed the same plan. As a result, some 
of the city systems are trying co-education in their high schools and ele- 
mentary grades, and thus far, while there are many opponents, the general 
verdict is favorable. 

But the women were not content with a general collegiate training or a 
normal course that fitted only for teaching. Within recent years they have 
entered into the other professions with a keen enthusiasm. They are allowed, 



EDUCATION DURING THE CENTURY 



535 



ft o a el 




SUGGESTION FOR PLANTING A SCHOOLGROVND. 

(Courtesy of Agricultural Department Cornell 
University.) 



in a few institutions, to take theological courses fitting for the ministry. The 
first woman physician was graduated in 1849 from the school at Geneva, N. 
Y. ; since that time special medical schools for women have been opened and 
some colleges have decided to admit women on the same terms as the other 
sex. In most law schools, wo- 
men may be admitted, and in 
several States there are women 
practicing at the bar. While the 
influence of tradition has been 
strong, yet there is to-day no 
reason why an American woman 
should not receive as full an edu- 
cation and as complete a training 
as her brother. 

In considering the changes in 
school-life, the improvement in 
buildings and equipment must 
not be overlooked. With the ap- 
preciation of the value of educa- 
tion, there has come an attention 
to the environment of the pupil 
that manifests itself in the pro- 
vision of text-books, in the erec- 
tion of larger and better venti- 
lated buildings, and in the adornment of school grounds. School archi- 
tecture, especially where populations are dense, has become an important 
science, involving problems of light, heat, ventilation, etc., together with 
questions of furniture, fire-proof construction and playgrounds. There was 
a time when the most interest was aroused by the exterior, that the school 
might be an adornment to its neighborhood. To-day the important prob- 
lems of arrangement receive the most attention, and deservedly so. We 
give two suggestive pictures of modern schoolhouses. Professor Liberty H. 
Bailey of Cornell University, in a pamphlet which has been extensively cir- 
culated, has advocated a judicious arrangement of shrubbery around a school- 
house, as space permitted, with a view to the elimination of all bare and 
cheerless features from the landscape. This is especially adapted to country 
districts. As a comparison, the new Central High School of Philadelphia 
is given as one of the best types of a complete city schoolhouse. It has 
been erected at a total cost of over one million dollars. 

The furnishing of a school has undergone characteristic development. The 
hard bench, upon which our forefathers sat, has in a large measure disap- 
peared, and in its place has come a variety of desks patterned with chairs 
fitted to each curve of the back, etc. Blackboards came into general use 
about the middle of the century. In certain studies, maps, charts, models, 
etc., seem indispensable, and the modern schoolroom contains all these. 
Moreover, as soon as science teaching had won a place in the curriculum, the 
cry went up for laboratories, that a. higher grade of work might be done with 
the more advanced pupil. It is rather a singular fact that in many places 
the public high school led in this demand, rather than the more conservative 



536 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 

college. To-day no high school would count itself able to do its work without 
one or more laboratories where each pupil might work for himself. In the 
new high school of Philadelphia there are physical, chemical, and biological 
laboratories, as well as a completely equipped astronomical observatory. 

Text-books were just coming into use at the close of the eighteenth cen- 
tury. The •' Child's Guide " was being superseded by such works as Noah 
Webster's Spelling Book, Grammar, and Reader (1792). Within a few years 
came Lindley Murray's " English Grammar," the work of a Quaker merchant 
who wrote his famous text-book primarily for a young ladies' school in his 
immediate neighborhood. The instant success of these books demonstrated 
what a need there was for such a class of literature. The writing and publi- 
cation of text-books has become one of the most flourishing industries of the 
country. On account of hard usage, a text-book does not last more than a 
few years, and this gives continual opportunity for a new book more nearly 
up to date than its predecessor. 

Within recent years, less stress has been laid on the text-book, and its influ- 
ence is being minimized. In the elementary schools the teacher explains 
the lesson, and in the higher schools the professor lectures upon his subject. 
Consequently, the text-book is relatively less important. This does not mean 
that less reading is being done, but it does mean that the reading covers a 
wider ground. Particularly is this true where libraries have been estab- 
lished. The public library system is a most valuable auxiliary to the school 
system, and is fast becoming indispensable. This is one of the great advan- 
tages which city pupils have over those whose home is in the country, and it 
will lead in the end to district libraries. In some States, as in New York, a 
successful effort has been made to inaugurate a system of traveling libraries, 
whereby a case of fifty or one hundred volumes, relating to a particular topic, 
will be lent for a time to any circle of readers. Massachusetts has best 
developed a library system, since there are but nine towns in the State that 
have not free libraries. The growth of the universities has led to the accu- 
mulation of great collections for special research and study. In 1800 there 
were but eleven college libraries in America worth mentioning ; to-day there 
are almost five hundred, of which the largest. Harvard, contains a half mil- 
lion volumes. Libraries are of use, not only for pupils, but also for adults 
as well. They have aided materially in solving the great question of adult 
education. 

In the New England towns of the middle part of the century, the lyceum 
lecture was exceedingly popular. University extension has recently come 
to the front as the latest form of the lyceum system. The idea of lec- 
tures to the people by university teachers came from England, where it 
was suggested just after an extension of the suffrage had attached a new 
value to the education of adults. Societies for the extension of univer- 
sity teaching have been formed in Oxford, Cambridge, and London. Their 
methods are on the whole identical, — university men are sent to town 
or village centres to give a course of lectures upon some general topic ; 
after each lecture a voluntary class is held where questions may be asked 
and answered ; at the conclusion of the course an examination based upon 
the course and collateral reading is given to those who care to take it ; and 
sometimes a certificate or testimonial may be given. The method has been 




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538 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



transplanted to America and generally adopted by the universities, with 
greatest success, perhaps, in the Middle States, where the American Society 
for the Extension of University Teaching has organized the held. During 
the period 1890-99, 862 courses of lectures were given under the auspices 

of the American Society to audi- 
ences aggregating 952,068. An- 
other movement of equal import- 
ance is that done by the Chatauqua 
Literary and Scientific Circle, which 
prepares lists of books for home 
reading, with a view to encouraging 
system in one's use of spare time. 
Perhaps the most interesting pub- 
lic work for adults is being done in 
New York city, where a lecture de- 
partment has been organized by the 
Board of Education, by which free 
lectures are given in schoolhouses 
to the people. In 1898, 1866 lec- 
tures were given to 698,200 people, 
and the president of ]S T ew York's 
School Board has declared that 
"these lectures have contributed 
more than any other agency to the 
distribution of general intelligence 
among the masses." These forces 
have supplemented very well the 
work that is being done by the pub- 
lic night schools, which are estab- 
lished in most large cities, with a 
view to providing elementary, and sometimes technical, instruction to those 
adults who care for it. 

No educational question has aroused more interest in business circles than 
the problem how to train best those who will devote themselves to a com- 
mercial life. This has become a live question recently to the American peo- 
ple. With improved processes in manufacture, the power of production has 
grown far beyond the consumption of our own people. Consequently Amer- 
ica is competing with the great industrial nations of Europe for a control of 
the markets of the world. As soon as this competition became evident, the 
need for a better trained class of commercial leaders was felt. The example 
of Germany has had a great influence upon other countries. There is a gen- 
eral conviction that the leading position among commercial nations which 
Germany has won for itself is due in large measure to the technical educa- 
tion given to German artisans and the commercial education provided for 
business men. For illustration, the German government has recently estab- 
lished in Berlin a school Avhere young men, preparing for business careers in 
Asia, can learn Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and Turkish. German youths 
have been supplanting English young men, to an appreciable degree, in the 
great commercial houses of London. As a consequence, there has been a 




DU. \VM. II. MAXWELL, SUPERINTENDENT 
"GREATER NEW YORK*' SCHOOLS. 

(Courtesy of The School Journal, New York.) 



EDUCATION DURING THE CENTURY 



539 



strong demand in America for the establishment of commercial high schools, 
— public institutions in which German, French, and Spanish will be taught, 
together with economics, industrial history, commercial geography, public 
finance, social science, etc. These institutions differ entirely from the busi- 
ness colleges, of which there were 342 in the United States in 1897, in that 
they are broader in scope and content. The latter qualify a man to be a 
good clerk by teaching him stenography, typewriting, bookkeeping, etc., but 
the former aim to give him a broad, liberal education, enabling him to have 
an intelligent comprehension of all matters which interest him in active busi- 
ness. This movement is too recent to have borne much fruit, but in many 
of the larger cities of America, as New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Brook- 
lyn, and Cleveland, commercial courses have been established in connection 
with the regular high-school course ; and in some of the larger universities, 
as Pennsylvania, Chicago, Columbia, schools in economics and politics have 
been created, — all with a view to equipping a young man for an active busi- 
ness career. In view of the present interest in this movement, more may be 
expected in the near future. 

The close of the Civil War brought the American people to a problem, 
vast in its importance and intricate in its solution. The negro race had had 
no opportunity for education under the institution of slavery. But with 
their freedom came the necessity for creating a system of schools which 
could be of special help to this new 
body of citizens. The South has 
preferred generally that separate 
schools should be provided for the 
two races. In the ante-bellum days, 
the wealthier families usually sent 
their sons and daughters away from 
home to obtain their education 
under better auspices than their 
own neighborhood could afford. So 
when the war concluded, and there 
was but little sign of public schools, 
a new system must be created, and 
at once. The first work toward ed- 
ucating the negro was done by the 
national government, through the 
schools opened by the Preedman's 
Aid Society. The different reli- 
gious bodies throughout the coun- 
try took a hand in the good work, 
by establishing special missionary 
boards for work in the South. Pri- 
vate benevolence lent substantial 
assistance. George Peabody, the 

philanthropist, and John P. Slater, both founded trusts which they richly 
endowed to aid in the establishment of schools in the Southern section. But 
the greatest work was done through the awakening of the people to the 
value of education, leading to liberal appropriations and to a firm public 
support. 




BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 



640 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

Within recent years, negro education has assumed a new and interesting 
phase. Booker T. Washington, principal of the Tuskegee Normal and Indus- 
trial Institute, Alabama, is the leading educator of the Afro-Americans, and 
he has won his high place by the success which has attended his efforts at 
industrial education. His school at Tuskegee was started in 1881, and to-day 
contains over one thousand students. While fully appreciating the value of an 
academic education, Mr. Washington has felt that the first necessity for his 
people was the knowledge that would earn a livelihood. As a consequence, 
the industrial side of education has been accented ; twenty-six different trades 
or industries are in operation at Tuskegee, and one is taught to each student 
of the Institute. As a consequence, its graduates have gone forth into active 
life, well equipped to become bread-winners and to * fill a useful place in 
society. 

The care of those who, from birth or by accident, do not possess all the 
powers of a normal person, has aroused much interest during the century. 
The deaf-mutes, the blind, and the mentally deficient, have each had institu- 
tions created, where they are taught as much of the knowledge of the world 
as is possible. The instruction of the deaf and dumb pi*oceeds along two 
lines. The manual or sign method of conversation, based on gestures, was 
founded by Abbe de l'Epee in 1760 ; while about the same time Samuel 
Heinicke, a German, introduced the oral method, by which the eye of the 
mute is trained to perform the part of the ear, by learning the meaning of 
spoken words through observation of the changes in the position of the vocal 
organs. Special institutions for these classes abound in Europe and Amer- 
ica, with the difference that, in the former, they are generally private or 
maintained by charity; whereas in the latter they are maintained by the 
State. Rev. T. H. Gallaudet and his son, Dr. Edward M. Gallaudet, have 
been the leaders in the instruction of deaf-mutes in the United States, and 
have achieved a high degree of success. 

The teaching of the blind is of equal value to education. Two methods 
are generally followed ; an alphabet of raised letters is employed in some 
cases, or, and more generally in the United States, a system of raised dots 
or points, which do not resemble the letter in form, but are a kind of 
shorthand to the reader. In both methods, the sense of touch takes the 
place of sight. In some cases, notably Laura Bridgman and Helen Keller, 
the success has been so complete as to excite universal wonder. Perhaps no 
institutions alleviate more human misery than do the schools for the blind, 
by bringing world-ideas within the limited horizon of this afflicted class. 

Much also has been done for the training of idiots or those who are men- 
tally deficient. In 1848, the Massachusetts School for Idiots and Feeble- 
Minded was opened, and other States followed with equally generous provi- 
sion. Within recent years, special schools have been opened in connection 
with the school systems of large cities, so that children who need individual 
care and watchfulness may receive more attention than they could secure in 
the graded class-room. All these tendencies are exceedingly hopeful, as 
indicative of society's recognition of her duty to those who cannot satisfac- 
torily care for themselves. Humanitarianism in education has been a power- 
ful and constant force during the whole of this century. 

It must not be forgotten that other agencies beside those established by 



EDUCATION DURING THE CENTURY 541 

States have been contributing to education. The Sunday-school movement is 
one of the great efforts of the century, to help in training children by a vol- 
untary organization. In 1781, Robert Raikes employed some teachers for 
the poor children of Gloucester, in order that their Sundays might be spent 



DR. E. BENJ. ANDREWS, SUPERINTENDENT OP SCHOOLS, CHICAGO, ILL. 

quietly and with profit. Presently, as the number of Sunday-schools in- 
creased, men and women proffered their services gratuitously. The teaching 
followed two general lines, secular (reading, writing, etc) and religious. The 
former was of help, especially to children who were employed during the 
week. From England, the movement came to the West. The American 
Sunday-school Union was organized in 1824, and has ever since continued 
to stimulate the establishment of more schools of this kind In 1896, there 



542 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX'" CENTURY 

were 132,697 Sunday-schools in the United States and 9097 in Canada, with 
a total membership of 12,288,153 and 721,435 respectively, while it has been 
computed that in the world the number of Sunday-schools was 246,658, with 
an enrollment of 24,919,313. 

In European states, they have been solving the same problems as in Amer- 
ica. The importance of education once admitted, the next problem is to 
secure the funds and develop the system. 1 Because of administrative cen- 
tralization, this has been far easier in Europe than in America. The Minis- 
ter of Education in France or Germany orders, and his directions are carried 
out ; the United States Commissioner advises, and while his recommenda- 
tions influence public opinion, yet the latter method is by far the slower. 
As a consequence, the European schools are more systematized and better 
organized than our own. Their course of study differs widely in details 
from our own, and generally shows more influence on the part of the peda- 
gogical expert. Technical and professional education has been developed to 
an exceedingly high degree. England has had a peculiar problem to face, in 
determining the relation between the church schools and the secular schools, 
and has only solved it by maintaining both. Most European countries have 
adopted the principle of compulsory education for children within a certain 
age limit, and the same principle has been accepted in thirty-two States in 
America. In general, it may be said that in the changes in course of study, 
in equipment, in the teachership, etc., Europe and America have been work- 
ing along parallel lines. As a rule, these changes have come more quickly in 
America,, where traditions were as yet unformed ; nevertheless, the progress 
in Europe has been constant and very great. 

Canada has a well-established and well-regulated system, in which the prin- 
ciple of free and public education is recognized. The eight provinces con- 
tain twenty-four colleges, and the schools have over one million pupils. Edu- 
cation is more or less compulsory in all of the provinces, but the law is not 
very strictly enforced. In Ontario, Quebec, and the Northwest Territories 
there are separate schools for Roman Catholics ; in the other provinces the 
schools are non-sectarian. There is a high professional spirit among the teach- 
ers, so that the schools may be expected to keep fully abreast of the times. 

The nineteenth century has been a century of continuous advance in edu- 
cation. Its spirit has been healthy, its achievements are notable, its work 
has been great. It would be futile, however, to assert that all is yet accom- 
plished. The problems in elementary education are so many and so impor- 
tant that there have been times when solution seemed impossible. Never- 
theless, the system is now established and is assured of public support, and 
with an education within the reach of every child, the security of free insti- 
tutions is forever guaranteed. 

l The comparative interest in education is well illustrated by the following extract from an ad- 
dress by Dr. Charles R. Skinner, recently delivered before the N. E A. 

" The United States, to-day the youngest of all, is the only great nation of the world which 
expends more for education than for war. France spends annually $4 per capita on her army and 
70 cents per capita on education; England, $3.72 for her army and 62 cents for education; Prussia, 
$2.04 for her army and 50 cents for education; Italy, $1.52 for her army and 36 cents for education; 
Austria, $1.36 for her army and 62 cents for education; Russia, $2.04 for her army and 3 cents for 
education; the United States, 39 cents for her army and $1.35 for education. England 6 to 1 for 
war! Russia, 17 to 1 for war! the United States 4 to 1 for education! The United States spends more 
per capita annually for education than England, France, and Russia combined." 



"THE ART PRESERVATIVE" 

By THOMAS J. LINDSEY, 

Editorial Staff Ph iladelphia "Evening Bulletin." 

I. THE PRINTING PRESS. 

When Benjamin Franklin edited, the " Gazette," in Philadelphia, a cen- 
tury and a half ago, he set up the type, worked off the paper on a wooden 
hand-press of primitive construction, made wooden types for use in his 
office, and engraved the cuts with which to illustrate the articles. In those 
days printing was an art which figured among the mysteries of science, 
and was practiced by men of high social standing and advanced education. 
The sixty years which passed between Franklin's purchase of the " Gazette " 
and his death saw the discovery of many scientific wonders, but the art of 
printing moved so slowly as to leave it at the close of the eighteenth cen- 
tury practically in the condition in which Franklin found it when he began 
his career as proprietor of his Philadelphia printing establishment. 

And this condition of affairs applied to England as well as to the United 
States. 

With all the rare ability possessed by the printer philosopher, he was 
able to do but little for the advancement of the profession which was instru- 
mental in making for him an international reputation. 

In all that pertains to the printing business there is nothing with which 
the name of Franklin is connected as inventor ; yet he is referred to invari- 
ably as in the highest degree representative of the " art preservative of all 
arts." 

Were the distinguished scientist, statesman, diplomat, printer, and philo- 
sopher to come forth from his grave 
in the cemetery of Christ Church, 
at Fifth and Arch Streets, Phila- 
delphia, and go into one of the 
great printing houses of the coun- 
try, how astounding to him would 
be the revelation ! No more the 
wooden types or the unsymmetri- 
rical metal pieces ; no more the 
wooden hand-press, the wood en- 
gravings, the ink balls, and the 
process of printing a few hundred 
sheets an hour. The terrific rapid- 
ity with which the newspapers are 
turned out to-day, printed, cut, 
pasted, and folded ; the fineness of 
the .work done on books and maga- 
zines ; the wonder of one press 
putting on different colors at the 
35 




EARLY PRINTING PRESS AS USED BY 
MIN FRANKLIN. 



544 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

same time ; the setting of type by machines seemingly possessed of human 
intelligence ; the rapidity and the simplicity of making stereotype plates ; 
the dexterity of forming ordinary metal types into all kinds of forms ; the 
millions of books, — secular and religious. — papers, and general literary 
productions turned out daily, would so puzzle the gigantic brain and cloud 
the understanding of the philosopher as to cause him to exclaim : " Take me 
back, spirit of death, and let me forever rest from this seething, surging, 
whirling sphere of inventive progression." 

When the genius of invention was turned toward the printing art, it is 
worthy of note that the press which attracted the greatest attention was the 
production of a Philadelphian who once had been an associate of Benjamin 
Franklin. It was known as the Columbian press, the invention of George 
Clymer, and was regarded as of sufficient consequence to meet the approval 
of the printing fraternity of Great Britain as well as of this country. 

In the National Museum in Washington, D. C, is the hand press which 
Benjamin Franklin used to print his Philadelphia paper, the " Gazette."' It 
had been built for him in London, where he had used it about five years prior 
to its being brought to Philadelphia. 

What a curious-looking affair it is ! Yet it was little less in the way of 
primitiveness compared with that used prior to 1817, when Clymer's Colum- 
bian came into use. When these productions are contrasted with the mag- 
nificent contrivances of to-day, from which can be thrown sixteen hundred 
papers per minute, — papers of ten, twelve, and fourteen pages, printed on 
both sides, pasted and folded, — the comparison is like putting the steamboat 
of Fulton by the side of the monster ships which cross the Atlantic ocean 
from Nfcw York to Southampton in less than five days. 

The Columbian press was looked upon, when presented to the printers, as 
an advance worthy of note in the art. It is easy to imagine how much prom- 
inence was given Clymer's invention when it was placed beside the old com- 
mon press. To-day, this supposed-to-be great piece of mechanism would not 
even be dignified by a place in the most un-modern backwoods printing 
establishment. And yet from this were printed the literary productions of 
Great Britain, as well as of the United States, in the early part of the nine- 
teenth century. 

The Columbian mechanical advancement consisted of the use of rollers for 
inking the type, — very much like the process now employed in inking the 
type when a rough proof is desired, — thus dispensing with the balls, which 
were managed by boys; the use of screws under the bed of the press to hold 
in position the form, into which had been securely adjusted the type; and the 
application of a long bar to obtain pressure sufficient to make the impression 
on the paper. The picture of this press shows the flat carriage upon which 
was placed the type, the platen or pressing surface, the bar which forced the 
platen upon the type, the spring which carried the platen back to position 
when the impression had been taken, and the track upon which the carriage 
was moved forward and backward, — primitive enough, and sufficiently simple 
in construction to show the limited capacity of the inventive genius of our 
great-grandfathers. 

It was about 1829 when the Columbian gave way to the Washington press, 
and this was used for some time for fine book-work. The feature of it was 
an automatic inking roller attachment. 



THE ART PRESERVATIVE 



545 



While the Washington press had the capacity for producing fine work, it 
■was deficient in the speed required for meeting the demand then growing for 
books and newspapers. Then the printers turned to a cylinder press which 
had appeared in the last decade of the eighteenth century. The London 
" Times " had taken hold of it. and brought it to such a condition that its 
speed was raised to something like a thousand impressions an hour. Konig, 
a native of Saxony, in 1815, produced a press for printing both sides of the 
sheet. It resembled two single presses placed with their cylinders toward 
each other, the sheet being carried by tapes from the first to the second cylin- 
der. Its capacity was 750 sheets, both sides, an hour. 




THE COLUMBIAN PRESS. 



Cambridge University about this time was furnished with a press in which 
the types were placed on the four sides of a prism, the paper being applied by 
another prism. It proved unsuccessful. In this press, however, were first 
introduced the inking rollers formed of a combination of glue and molasses. 
Rollers are made of these two materials to this day. 

Cowper, an Englishman, in 1815, introduced curved stereotyped plates and 
fixed them to a cylinder. Two place cylinders and two impression cylinders 
were soon afterward worked together on one press by Cowper, printing both 
sides of the'sheet at the rate of one thousand copies an hour. 

This seems to have been the period when inventive skill began to assert 
itself in the printing press. The educational advancement of the people in 



646 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



this country and in Europe, with the lack of facility for furnishing informa- 
tion of the campaigns of Napoleon Bonaparte, the desire for facts regarding 
the events transpiring in England, France, and Germany, the meagreness of the 
details which had been furnished of the conflict between Great Britain and 
the United States in 1812, convinced the publishers of newspapers in this 
country and abroad that the laws of supply and demand were not equally bal- 
anced. The outcome of this was a press constructed to print both sides of 
the sheet from type, and was soon followed by the introduction of four 
impression cylinders. These were applied to the reciprocating bed to carry 




WASHINGTON HAND PRESS. 



the type for one side of the sheet, the sheets being fed from four feeding 
boards, the impression cylinders alternately rising and falling, so that two 
sheets were printed during the passage one way, the other two on the return 
passage. A pair of inking rollers between the impression cylinders obtained 
ink from the reciprocating board. 

The capacity of this press was five thousand an hour, and this was re- 
garded as a feat worthy of public mention, record of it being made in the 
newspapers of that period in a way which shows the general interest in the 
work. 

The first power-press used in the United States was made by Daniel 



THE ART PRESERVATIVE 



547 



Treadwell, of Boston, in 1822. Two of them were used by the Bible and 
Tract societies. 

The London " Times" had succeeded in applying steam to the movement 
of the printing press as early as 1814 — a cylinder press being brought into 
requisition, to the use of which they had the exclusive right. 

Following the Treadwell press, about 1825, came the improvements of 
Samuel and Isaac Adams, and the general use of the press which is still 
worked in the book offices of this country and Great Britain. It was on 
one of these Adams presses, in 1863, that was printed the book written by 
Dr. Elisha Kent Kane, describing his second expedition in search of Sir 
John Franklin, the Arctic explorer. 




OLD WOODEN FRAME ADAMS BED AND PLATEN BOOK PRESS. 



It was found that the Adams press could be used for newspaper as well 
as exceedingly fine book-work, its construction admitting of the use of plates 
or type, and its speed such as nearly came up to the requirements of that 
period. In this press a feed board holds the paper, which is fed by hand 
to a second board or tympan, having points to make holes in the sheet to 
regulate the second side. The type rests upon a bed which is raised by 
straightening a toggle-joint against the upper plates. 

The fountain for the ink is carried at one end of the press. The inking 
rollers pass twice over the form. The paper is caught by grippers, carried 
in a frame called a-frisket over the form (or type), receives the impression, 
and is carried by tapes to a fly frame in the rear which delivers it to the 
sheet board. 

With the two-, three-, and four-cylinder presses, the Adams press, steam 



548 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

power and various improvements in the make of inks and rollers, the first 
half of the nineteenth century was looked upon as having made for the print- 
ing press extraordinarily rapid advancement. Great Britain held first place 
in the production of newspapers and books, the United States was a slow 
second, then came France, Germany, Russia, Italy, Spain, and Austria, in 
the order given. The greatest evidence of this march of improvement was 
the enormous increase in the production of the Bible, and the bringing of the 
cost to a figure which then was looked upon as placing it within the reach of 
all classes. Scientific and literary works were being put out in great num- 
bers, newspapers were being started in every town in this country and Eng- 
land, and the editions put out in such European centres of advancement as 
Paris, Madrid, Berlin, Brussels, London, Liverpool, Dublin, Glasgow. St. 
Petersburg. Vienna, and Borne reached proportions then supposed to be 
enormous. The London •• Times" at that period had a circulation of about 
30,000, — and this was the leader in journalism. In the United States the 
leading newspapers did not issue daily editions greater than 20,000, while a 
circulation of 10,000 daily was regarded as being entirely satisfactory to the 
business ideas of the average publisher. 

The opening of the last half of the nineteenth century may be spoken of 
as a quiescent period. It was the calm in the affairs of the United States 
which preceded the occurring of stormy events which put to the full test the 
strength of the young republic, the attitude of the nations of the old world 
toward us, and the power of the people successfully to maintain a govern- 
ment "of the people, for the people, and by the people." 

Millard Fillmore became the President of the United States in July of 
1850, succeeding Zachary Taylor, who died. The Congress had taken a stand 
on the disturbing rpiestion of slavery by the passage of the fugitive slave 
law, and had made the first step toward freedom for the negroes by the aboli- 
tion of the slave trade in the District of Columbia. It was in this year that 
New Mexico and Utah were admitted as Territories, the entire population 
of the United States being only 23,191,876 ; ten years later the population 
reached 31,143,321. The people were beginning to realize how important 
was the printing press in placing them in communication with the statesmen 
of the country. They were looking to Webster, Calhoun, Clay, Meredith, 
Everett, Scott, Crittenden, Collamer. Marcy. — then in the fullness of mental 
vigor, — and they were demanding information of their acts in the cabinet, 
their speeches in Congress, their views on state rights and slavery. 

It was at this time that the Hoe American Printing-press Company startled 
the world by producing the ten-cylinder press, the speed of which was limited 
only by the ability of the feeders to supply the sheets. The first one of 
them to be used in the United States was that upon which the Philadelphia 
" Public Ledger ** was printed. It at once came into general use in Europe 
and America. Its speed was 20,000 copies an hour. 

In this press — still in use in many cities — the form of type is placed on 
the surface of a horizontal revolving cylinder of about four and a half feet 
in diameter. The form occupies a segment of only about one fourth of the 
surface of the cylinder, and the remainder is used as an ink-distributing 
surface. Around this main cylinder, and parallel with it, are smaller impres- 
sion-cylinders. The large cylinder being put in motion, the form of types is 



THE ART PRESERVATIVE 



549 



carried successively to all the impression-cylinders, at each of which a sheet 
is introduced, and receives the impression of the type as the form passes. 
One person supplies the sheets of paper to each cylinder. After being 
printed they are carried out by tapes and laid upon heaps by means of self- 
acting flyers. The ink is contained in a fountain placed beneath the main 
cylinder, and is conveyed by means of distributing rollers to the distributing 
surface on the main cylinder. The surface being lower, or less in diameter 
than the form of types, passes by the impression-cylinder without touching. 
For each impression there are two inking rollers, which receive their supply 
of ink from the distributing surface of the main cylinder; they rise and ink 
the form as it passes under them, after which they again fall to the distri- 
buting surface. Each page of the paper is locked up on a detached segment 
of the larger cylinder, which constitutes its bed and chases, termed the 
"turtle." The column-rules run parallel with the shaft of the cylinder, and 
consequently are straight, while head, advertising, and dash rules are in the 




DOUBLE CYLINDER PRESS. 



form of segments of a circle. The column-rules are in the form of a wedge, 
with the thin part directed toward the axis of the cylinder, so as to bind the 
type securely. These wedge-shaped column-rules are held down to the bed 
by tongues projecting at intervals along their length, which slide in rebated 
grooves cut crosswise in the face of the bed. The spaces in the grooves 
between the rules are accurately fitted with sliding blocks of metal, even 
with the surface of the bed, the ends of which blocks are cut away under- 
neath to receive a projection on the sides of the tongues of the column-rules. 
The form of type is locked up in the bed by means of screws at the foot and 
sides, by which the type is held as securely as in the- ordinary manner upon 
a flat bed. 

This press was regarded as the highest degree of perfection, until William 
A. Bullock, of Philadelphia, put out his web perfecting press. This com- 
pletely revolutionized the printing business so far as the newspapers were 
concerned. It came into use in 1861, — just before the breaking out of the 
war of the rebellion in the United States, — in time to meet the enormous 
demands made upon the printing press at home and abroad. It had been in 
operation but a short time when the newspaper owners of Great Britain took 



550 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

hold of it, and for several years no other press was used by the newspapers 
of large circulation. 

How slow and toy-like it seems in comparison with the monsters of the 
present day ! And yet- this machine met the demands of a period when it 
was supposed the circulation of the daily press had reached an altitude never 
to be surpassed. A newspaper like the New York " Herald," which had 
attained a daily circulation of about 75,000, was looked upon as achieving 
the highest degree of success. In this last year of the nineteenth century 
the "Journal " and " World " of New York send out at least a million copies 
of their papers 365 days in the year. 

William A. Bullock worked at his web printing press for six years before 
he had it in shape to pronounce it applicable to the requirements. It was 
not long after it was in successful operation that one of his limbs caught 
in the machinery of one of his presses, and death was the result. As the 
presses first were made, and indeed for many years thereafter, the paper was 
cut in the press before being printed, and it was a difficult matter properly 
to control these single sheets until they were delivered, while the presses 
were without any folding attachment. But these old style Bullock presses 
did succeed in turning out 6000 eight-page papers an hour, printed on both 
sides. 

In 1873 a great improvement was made in the Bullock presses, which 
allowed of the papers being printed on the endless roll before the paper was 
cut. 

With the aid of other improvements subsequently made these presses at- 
tained to a capacity of 16,000 eight-page papers an hour. But an unexpected 
limit was found in the impossibility of delivering beyond a certain rate from 
the fly. Then It. Hoe & Co. (about 1877) invented a contrivance which 
obviated the difficulty. It consisted of an accumulating cylinder, on which 
six or eight sheets were laid one above the other and then delivered from the 
fly at one motion. This increased the capacity of their perfecting press to 
18,000 an hour. A folding attachment was then added ; next a pasting and 
cutting attachment. Thus, in 1879 they were able to turn out a press which 
produced 30,000 perfect eight-page papers an hour — printed, cut, pasted, 
and folded. 

The next great achievement was put in operation in a New York press- 
room in 1885. That was the double supplement press, which in reality com- 
bines two presses in one. It was the first press to insert supplement sheets 
automatically, and it was the first press to print from two rolls of paper, one 
roll being placed at right angles to the main roll. As the name of the press 
implies, from the secondary roll the supplements are printed at the same 
time that the main part of the paper is being printed from the other roll. 
And by means of what to the ordinary man seems a miraculous contrivance, 
but which to the initiated in the mysteries of mechanics is no doubt very 
simple, the supplement is automatically inset and pasted into the main paper 
before reaching the fly, and dropped out folded ready for the newsdealer. 

From this press has been evolved the superb printing machine which, in 
recent years, has astonished the world. On it can be printed eight-, ten-, or 
twelve-page papers at a running speed of 24,000 an hour, or 400 a minute, 
and whether eight, ten, or twelve pages are printed they all come out with 



THE ART PRESERVATIVE 551 

the supplements inset and the paper pasted and folded. From this press 
was developed the next triumph, the quadruple press. Marvelous machines 
these quadruple presses are, and it seemed impossible that any press could 
be built for many years to come that would beat them. 

The printing business stood amazed, awe-stricken at the sight of so many 
papers being turned out each hour. And before the amazement had subsided 
there came forth the machine which is destined to go down in history as one 
of the great achievements in mechanics of the nineteenth century, — the 
sextuple press, manufactured by Hoe & Co., which has brought forth as 
many wonderful improvements as any mechanical concern in the world. 

Although it is impossible to explain in language comprehensible to the 
man who is not an engineer how this monarch among printing presses does 
its work at a rate of speed which is well-nigh incredible and outstrips the 
flight of imagination itself, yet it is possible to convey an idea of what the 
extent of the work is. 

This machine will print, fold, paste, and deliver 90,000 of a four-page paper 




FIRST PERFECTING PRESS. 



or six-page newspaper in one hour. It will require some figuring to convey 
an adequate idea of how fast that is, for, as a matter of fact, it is faster than 
a man can think, and that is why I say that the speed of the machine out- 
strips the flight of imagination. 

Ninety thousand copies an hour is equivalent to fifteen hundred copies a 
minute, and fifteen hundred copies a minute means twenty-five copies per 
second ! 

Now take out your watch, and while the second hand is passing from one 
second to another try to grasp the idea that in all that brief interval of time 
twenty-five six-page newspapers have been printed. You can't do it. It is 
faster than you can think. 

And yet in that second those twenty-five papers are not only printed, but 
the inside sheets are automatically pasted in, and the twenty-five papers are 
all cut and folded ready for delivery to the newsdealers. Is there anything 
more marvelous than that recorded in the " Arabian Nights " ? Who said 
that there are no miracles in this nineteenth century ? Why, if old Guten- 
berg, — peace to his soul, — or Faust, or Caxton, or even our own Benjamin 
Franklin had seen anything of the sort, they would have sworn that it was 



552 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

either a miracle or the work of the supernatural, with the chances in favor 
of the latter. 

Each page of the average newspaper has six columns, and in each column 
there is on an average 1800 words. Six multiplied by six and the product 
of that by twenty-five, and that again by 1800, you will find makes 1,620,000, 
which is just about the number of words that this press prints in a second 
when it is turning out six-page papers at the rate of twenty-five a second. 
That is something that will stagger any man's imagination if he tries to 
realize what it is. 

This press will print, cut, paste, fold, count, and deliver 72,000 copies of 
an eight-page newspaper in one hour, which is equivalent to 1200 a minute 
and 20 a second. 

It will print, cut, paste, count, and deliver complete 48,000 copies of a ten- or 
twelve-page newspaper in one hour, which is equivalent to 800 a minute 
and a fraction over 13 a second. 

It will print, cut, paste, fold, count, and deliver complete 36,000 copies of 
a sixteen-page newspaper an hour, which is at the rate of 600 a minute, or 
10 a second. 

It will print, cut, paste, fold, count, and deliver complete 24,000 copies of 
a fourteen-, twenty-, or twenty-four-page newspaper an hour, which is at the 
rate of 400 a minute, or very nearly seven a second. 

This is lightning work with a vengeance, and yet it is possible that there 
may be some who read this who will live to call it slow. That will probably 
be when they have found out all about how to put a harness on electricity. 
No one can predict when inventive genius will reach its limits in the print- 
ing press. Before this press was built, the fastest presses in the world were 
Hoe's quadruple presses, which will turn out 48,000 four-, six-, or eight- 
page papers an hour, 24,000 ten-, twelve-, fourteen-, or sixteen-page papers an 
hour, and 12,000 twenty- or twenty-four page papers an hour, all cut, pasted, 
and folded. 

The sextuple press has a well-nigh insatiable appetite for white paper. 
To satisfy it it is fed from three rolls at the same time, one roll being 
attached at either end of the press, and the third suspended near the centre. 
It is the only press which has ever been able to accomplish that feat. Each 
roll is sixty-three inches wide. When doing its best this press will consume 
25| miles of 63-inch wide white paper in one hour, and eject it at the'two 
deliveries, each copy containing an epitome of the news of the world for the 
preceding twenty-four hours, and each copy cut, pasted, and folded ready for 
delivery. It is a sight worth seeing to see it done, and in its way it is just 
as impressive as Niagara. 

A man turns a lever, shafts and cylinders begin to revolve, the whirring 
noise sets into a steady roar, you see three streams of white paper pouring 
into the machine from the three huge rolls, and you pass around to the other 
side and — it is literally snowing newspapers at each end of the two delivery 
outlets. So fast does one paper follow the other that you catch only a 
momentary glitter from the deft steel fingers which seize the papers and cast 
them out. 

The machine weighs about fifty-eight tons. It is massive and strong, with 
the strength of a thousand giants. And yet, though its arms are of steel and 



THE ART PRESERVATIVE 



553 



its motions are all as rapid as lightning, its touch is as tender as that of a 
•woman when she caresses her babe. How else does the machine avoid tear- 
ing the paper ? Paper tears very readily, as you often ascertain accidentally 
when turning over the pages. Truly wonderful it is, and mysterious to any- 
body but an expert, how this huge machine can make newspapers at the rate 
of twenty-five a second without rending the paper all to shreds. 

It has six plate cylinders, each cylinder carrying eight stereotype plates, 
and six impression-cylinders. These cylinders, when the press is working at 
full speed, make two hundred revolutions a minute. The period of contact 
between the paper and the plate cylinders is therefore inconceivably brief, 
and how in that fractional space of time a perfect impression is made even 
to the reproduction of the finest, is one of those things which, to the man who 
is not " up " in mechanics, must forever remain a mystery. 




FOUR KOLLEU TWO-REVOLUTION PRESS. 



A double folder forms part of the machine. A single folder would not be 
equal to the task imposed on it. As it is, this double folder has to exer- 
cise such celerity to keep up with the streams of printed paper which de- 
scend upon it that its operations are too quick for the eye to follow. 

The press has two delivery outlets. At each the papers are automatically 
counted in piles of fifty. No matter how rapidly the papers come out, there 
is never a mistake in the count. It is as sure as fate. By an ingenious con- 
trivance — if I should try to describe it more definitely most people would 
be none the wiser — each fiftieth paper is shoved out an inch beyond the 
others which have been dropped on to the receiving tapes, thus serving as a 
sort of tally mark. 

Truly it is a marvelous machine — this sextuple press. Nowhere you will 
find a more perfect adaptation of means to ends, nowhere in any branch of 
industry a piece of mechanism which offers a finer example of what human 
skill and ingenuity is capable of. And it is free from that reproach Avhich is 
sometimes brought against the greatest triumphs of inventive genius in 



554 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

other departments of human activity, — that they make mere automatons- 
out of human beings. 

There was recently manufactured by the Hoe Company for a New York 
paper an addition to this wonderful piece of machinery designated an octu- 
ple press. Running at full speed it will print, paste, cut, fold, and count 
96,000 eight-page papers an hour. It is nearly 14 feet high, and 25 feet long. 
Ten men are required to operate it. The cylinders revolve 200 times in 
every 60 seconds. 

This monster is divided into two working parts. The printing is done on 
the half of the machine to the right. The paper passes over the cylinders 
there, where it is printed from the stereotype plates, and then runs through 
the other half of the machine on the left, where it is cut, inserted, pasted, 
delivered, and counted from four outlets folding in half-page size. 

This press shows four distinct double printing machines, each fed by its 
own roll of paper. The paper from each roll passes against two sets of 
stereotype plate cylinders — one for each side of the printed sheet. The 
machine is so perfectly adjusted that by simply turning a screw and moving 
a gear a few inches each of the four sets of cylinders can be thrown out of 
operation ; that is to say one quarter, one half, three quarters, or the whole 
press can be operated at will. 

The folder is harmonized for each adjustment of the printing cylinder. 
The folding of the papers has been brought to the highest state of perfection. 
The sheets are folded, cut, and delivered by a rotary motion at a speed that 
could never have been attained with the reciprocating arms, such as were 
used prior to the Hoe inventions. 

When a sixteen-page paper is being printed it comes in four-ply thickness, 
and then doubles and shoots eight thicknesses under the knife. 

When a twenty-four-page paper is being printed it passes over the longi- 
tudinal folder in six-ply thickness and passes under the knife in twelve 
thicknesses. All this is attained without the use of guiding tapes. In fact, 
the speed could not be attained with them. 

As the papers are folded and delivered from the four outlets, with a speed 
too great for the eye to follow, the machine itself counts them in total and in 
bundles, as is done on the sextuple press. This monster octuple machine 
has a perfected system of ink distribution with which no other presses are 
equipped. Under the system results are obtained by decreasing the size and 
increasing the number of ink-rollers around each cylinder of plates. 

The arrangement of the type cylinders is such as to make the press one 
that can be handled with great ease and rapidity. Along the right hand of 
the machine, between the two rows of cylinders, is an open passageway. It 
is large enough for men to pass through either from the ground or from the 
gallery near the latitudinal centre of the press. 

From this open passageway the pressmen are able to watch every move- 
ment of the machine's interior working, and from it they are able to make 
quick changes on the plate cylinders. The change in position of only two 
ink-rollers is necessary to change a plate on any cylinder. This is a matter 
of great importance to a paper which prints many editions, for it is necessary 
to change plates so often and to economize every minute of time in order to- 
catch the fast mails which carry the paper to all quarters of the earth. 



THE ART PRESERVATIVE 



555 



On the octuple presses each roll of paper is guarded against breakage. 
There is a device in the shape of a short endless belt of rubber which passes 
over two pulleys and rests on top of the roll of paper. The paper is then 
pulled from the roll as gently as the thread is pulled from the spool of a 
sewing machine. The belt pushes the roll along at a speed equal to and 
sometimes a little greater than that of the stereotype cylinders. Hence, all 
tension is removed from the paper. 

From the stereotyper's department, where they have been made in a few 
minutes, come the plates of curved, bright metal. Passed to the pressmen, 
they are locked on the cylinders as fast as they can be handled. The rolls of 
paper have been placed in their proper positions. 

This accomplished, the men step back from the machine, the brakeman 
pulls the lever, and the giant press begins its work. Slowly its cylinders 
revolve at first, but as headway is gained the rumble that accompanied the 
start increases into a shrill shriek as the limit of speed is reached. 




LITHOGRAPHIC PRESS. 



The paper rushes from its continuous rolls, is printed, folded, cut, .and 
thrown out from the four outlets at a speed that would be over twice greater 
than that of any express train if it were confined to one roll. Every paper 
is just like every other one, perfect in every detail. 

When this has gone on for an hour, two hours, or however long it may 
take to run off the editions, the monster press can be stopped in an instant. 
With the simple touching of a lever all its movement will cease before the 
cylinders can revolve five times, and they had been revolving two hundred 
times a minute before. 

The two wonders just described are confined to newspaper work. This 
same American firm has produced presses upon which are printed the fine 
specimens of magazines where the work takes a striking resemblance to litho- 
graph printing. They have a speed of 8000 an hour. From them come 
booklets of 16, 20, or 24 pages. From the presses of 4000 an hour come 
books of 32, 40, and 48 pages. In construction they are complicated and 

grand. 

Then come the presses upon which are printed different colors. These 
are made in England and the United States, and are used with satisfactory 
results on prominent publications in both countries. A recent issue of the 



556 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 

" British and Colonial Printer " directs attention to this advance in mechan- 
ism through the medium of the Hoe art rotary form feeder. It says : — 

" This machine carries the mind back naturally to pre-rotary days, when the 
Hoe multi-feeder held the field as the newspaper machine, to the days of the 
heavy, and as we consider in these advanced days, clumsy turtle. When the 
creative genius of Colonel Hoe evolved the rotary press, the multi-feeder was 
almost at once relegated to the lumber room of obsolete mechanics. It is 
hardly conceivable that it entered the mind of any practical man at this time 
that the principle of multi-fed flat sheet printing would ever be adapted to 
the production of high art illustrated literature, at a speed equal, or nearly so, 
to the former Hoe news machine. It has, at all events in our country, long 
been a settled opinion that such work could only be successfully accomplished 
upon a flat-bed machine, that the mere curvature of a plate must destroy the 
beauty of a fine process block for example, and that any attempt to travel at 
a greater speed than 1200 to 1500 an hour must be at the sacrifice of depth 
and sufficiency of rolling. Whether this is really so readers will now be 
able to form their own opinion from the pages of the ' Strand Magazine/ 
Those pages abound in very varied methods of engraving, woodcut and pro- 
cess, line and nature, and reproductions alike from photos and from wash and 
crayon drawings. Every page has undergone the process of electrotyping, 
cast straight and curved subsequently, and therefore the conditions of print- 
ing at the high speed of 4000 (or to be strictly accurate, four sheets of 16- 
pages each put through at the rate of 950 each, or 3800 per hour) are as 
severe as could be desired. 

"The British printer has yet to acquire a full mastery of its capabilities, 
and the engineer has equally before him in some degree a period of develop- 
ment. Some of the portraiture, human and animal, is equal to anything 
seen. The make-ready (upon hard packing) exhibits the highest quality, and 
the distribution of color perfection. The plate-cylinder is made as large as 
the desired speed renders practicable, in order that the curvature of the 
plates may be reduced to a minimum. The provision for securing adequate 
distribution and in-rolling is upon a liberal scale, but not one whit more so 
than is requisite, extent of surface and speed of running considered. There 
are 16 inkers and 38 distributors, with 16 iron distribution cylinders. The 
sheets are fed in two at either side of the machine, those from the right 
hand feeders being delivered upon the table at the extreme left, the other 
upon the inner delivery board. The plates are rigidly secured by special 
clutches. To facilitate the imposition of the plates, or any attention re- 
quired by the cylinder, the short rear portion of the machine back of the 
cylinder is detachable and can be run out upon an extended base, and then 
closed up and put into gear again. This renders it perfectly accessible at the 
most essential point. The sheets are of course printed on one side only. We 
have not yet attained to the perfecting stage in art work in combination with 
high speed ; the introduction of the Hoe art rotary press, however, marks 
a distinct epoch in this class of printing in Great Britain. Color printing- 
presses are in use in the newspaper and magazine offices in this country, and 
from them are produced the artistic as well as the lurid styles of art." 

What the possibilities of the printing press are, looking at the degree 
of excellence at present attained, it is difficult to predict. It would seem 



THE ART PRESERVATIVE 557 

as if the height of perfection now had been reached. The probability is that 
the printer at the end of the first quarter of the twentieth century may look 
with something akin to contempt upon the machines which now are regarded 
with so much pride. 

Such a thing is possible in this age of invention. 

II. THE SETTING OF TYPE. 

In the beginning of the nineteenth century, when the little metal pieces 




NUMBERING CARD PRESS. 



of type were picked up one at a time and placed in the composing " stick * 
by hand, there was attached to the work an importance which elevated it 
almost to the ranks of the trained professions. In England, as late as 1817, 
compositors arrogated to themselves the dignity of carrying swords. At 
the close of the nineteenth century, the art is seen to be passing into the 
sphere of mechanics, — the methods in vogue making it entirely a mechanical 
operation. Before many years of the twentieth century have passed, there 



558 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

will have been attained a degree of advancement which will dispense with 
the hand of man in guiding the movements of the machine. The inventive 
skill which brought the printing press to such a high point of excellence and 
speed has been turned toward the work of type-composing, and the forward 
march is likely to be as rapid. 

Outside of the actual learned professions, no occupation has contributed so 
many prominent figures to the history and progress of this country as the 
composing-room. They have filled important places in journalism, politics, 
Congress, state legislatures, the army and navy, and the world of literature. 

Horace Greeley, the founder of the New York "Tribune," — writer, states- 
man, and man of affairs, — is one of the notable figures of the present century, 
who laid the foundation of his career at a case of type. 

Schuyler Colfax, who became Vice-President of the United States in 1869, 
passed the early years of his life setting type. 

And, strange to say, these two men, when the presidential chair seemed 
a possible realization of their ambition, were opposed by men of their craft 
simply because they had seemed to run so far above the " stick " and " rule." 

Simon Cameron, of Pennsylvania, once Secretary of War, United States 
senator, representative of the United States abroad, and for many years 
political master of his great State, was proud to say that he had begun his 
career as a type-setter in a country printing-office. It is worth while noticing 
that this printer-politician's life covered nearly a century of existence. His 
life spanned every president from John Adams in 1799 to Benjamin Har- 
rison in 1889, while his active political control of Pennsylvania covered a 
period of sixty-five years. — a record made by only one man within the his- 
tory of the United States. 

Every state in the Union has contributed to history its quota of printer- 
statesmen, printer-authors, and printer-journalists. How many of such there 
have been in this nineteenth century would be beyond ordinary research to 
ascertain. But printers — compositors — can refer with just pride to the 
fact that in all the advanced walks of life are to be found men who have 
been members of the guild. 

The setting of type by hand prevailed universally until as late as 1880. 
That may be put down as the period when there came into anything like 
general use the machines for type composition, although experiments in that 
direction had been going on for sixty years. 

As early as 1820, printers realized that machinery eventually must be 
brought into play for composing type. But how to do it was the scientific 
as well as mechanical problem. It was argued that the machine must be so 
constructed as to pick up the type, uniformly distribute the space between 
the words, and "justify " the lines, that is, make them the exact width. 

" It is beyond the range of possibility/' suggested the printer. " Mechanism 
never can be applied to art. The great Benjamin Franklin would have dis- 
covered the way to make such a thing possible, if it were possible — which is 
impossible." 

And the scientific electric discovery made by Benjamin Franklin in the 
eighteenth century is, at the close of the nineteenth, the motive-power used 
for driving the machines for type composition, — the seemingly impossible 
has reached the stage of possibility. 




w o 



THE ART PRESERVATIVE 



559 



Dr. William Church, of Connecticut, produced a machine looking to ma- 
chine type-composition in 1820. It did not come into use, although he spent 
large sums of money on it, and devoted a vast amount of energy toward hav- 
ing it taken up both in this country and in England. At the Paris Exhibi- 
tion in 1835 there were exhibited several machines of this sort, one of which 
— the patent of Christian Sorensen, of Copenhagen — was used upon a daily 
paper issued during the exhibition. In 1871, at the International Exhibition 
in London, there was shown a machine possessing peculiar features. It used 
a perforated ribbon, through the medium of which types were worked into 
position. The machine was cumbersome, complicated, and expensive, and 




LINOTYPE (^TYPE-SETTING) MACHINE (FIIONT VIEW). 



could not be brought into anything like general usage. In 1875 M. Del- 
cambre, of Paris, after twenty years' work produced a machine in New York. 
It had the same objections as the others. While this machine could do 
as much as the labor of three men by hand, it required a man to operate, 
another man to place the set type in lines, steam to keep it in motion, and a 
big cost to construct. 

Up to this period, all the experiments had shown the want of something 
which would obviate the presence of a man to make the lines of the proper 
length and with equal spacing. between the words. All the machines which 
were anything near available picked up and placed in position separate types. 
At the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, in Philadelphia, there were shown ma- 
chines which used brass dies and cast a l.'ue of type. These seemed to pos- 
36 



560 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 

sess the element for successful use, and the outcome was the production of 
the machine which is now in use in all the big newspaper offices in this 
country — the " Mergenthaler Linotype." Practically it has driven all the 
other machines out of use, but how long it will hold sway is a question. 
Already men of genius are experimenting with two objects in view, — in- 
crease of speed, decrease of cost, — and it is fair to presume that before 
the twentieth century has gone very far into history these two objects will 
have been attained. 

The linotype, as here shown, has the appearance of a heavy and cumber- 
some piece of machinery. It actually is so only when there are several of 
them placed in line — then they give to a composing-room the appearance 
of a machine shop. This machine, instead of producing single type of the 
ordinary character, casts type-metal bars or slugs, each complete in one piece, 
and having on the upper edge, properly justified, the type characters to print 
a line. 

These slugs present the appearance of composed lines of type, and serve 
the same purpose, and for this reason are called " linotypes." The linotypes 
are produced and assembled automatically in a galley, side by side, in proper 
order, so that they constitute a "form," answering the same purposes and 
used in the same manner as the ordinary " forms " consisting of single types. 

After being used, the linotypes instead of being, like type forms, distri- 
buted, are thrown into a metal pot of the machine to be recast into new 
forms. 

The machine contains, as its fundamental elements, several hundred brass 
matrices. Each matrix consists of a flat plate having in one edge a female 
letter, or matrix proper, and in the upper end a series of teeth, which are 
used for distributing to their proper places in the magazine matrices contain- 
ing different letters. There are in the machine a number of matrices of each 
letter, and also matrices representing special characters, and spaces or quads 
of definite thickness for use in tabular and other work of a complicated 
nature. 

The machine is so organized that on manipulating the finger-keys it will 
select matrices in the order in which their characters are to appear in print, 
and assemble them side by side with wedge-shaped spaces at suitable points 
in the line. 

This composed line forms a line matrix, or in other words a line of female 
type, adapted to produce a line of raised printing type on a slug, which may 
be forced into or against the matrix characters. After the matrix line is 
composed it is automatically transferred to the face of the mold, into which 
molten metal is delivered to produce the slug or linotype, after which the 
matrices are distributed or returned to the magazine to be again composed in 
new relations for succeeding lines. 

These operations are performed by mechanism, as shown in the outline 
here presented. 

A is an inclined fixed magazine, containing channels in which the assorted 
matrices are stored, and through which they slide, entering at the top and 
escaping at the foot, one at a time. Each channel is provided at the lower 
end with an escapement device, B, connected by a rod, C, with a finger char- 
acter of the matrices in the corresponding channel. There is a key for each 



THE ART PRESERVATIVE 



561 



character, and also keys for quads stored in the magazine. The keys are 
actuated by the operator in the order in which their letters are to appear in 
print. As a key is depressed, it operates the corresponding escapement, B, 
which allows a matrix to fall out of the magazine through one of the chan- 
nels, E, to the inclined traveling belt, F, which serves to carry the matrices 
down in succession into the assembler stick, G, in which they are stored side 
by side. A box, H, contains a number of elongated spaces, 2, and a dis- 
charging device connecting with a finger-key bar, J, by which the spaces are 
permitted to fall into the line of matrices at the proper points during com- 
position. It will be perceived that the operation of the various keys results 



DISTRIBUTOR 




OUTLINE OF TYPE-SETTING MACHINE. 



in the selection of the matrices and spaces, and their collection in assembler, 
G, until it contains all the characters to be represented by one line of print. 
After the matrix line is thus composed it is transferred, as indicated by the 
dotted lines, to the front of a mold or slot extending through a mold wheel, 
K, from front to rear. This mold is of the exact size and shape of the slug 
required. The matrix line is pressed tightly against, and closed in front of, 
the mold for the time being, and the characters, or matrices proper, face the 
mold cell or space. While the line is in place in front of the mold, the 
wedge spaces are pushed up through the line, and in this manner exact and 
instantaneous " justification " is secured. Behind the mold there is a melt- 
ing pot, M, heated by a flame from a gas burner, and containing a quantity 
of molten metal. The pot has a perforated mouth arranged to fit against and 
close the rear side of the mold, and contains a iump plunger, mechanically 
actuated. 



562 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

After the matrix line is in place, the plunger falls and forces metal through 
the pot mouth into the mold, against and into the characters of the matrix 
line. The metal instantly solidifies in the mold, forming the slug or lino- 
type, having on its edge raised type characters formed by the matrices. The 
mold wheel next makes a partial revolution, turning the mold from the 
original horizontal to a vertical position in front of the ejector, which then 
advances from the rear through the mold, pushing the slug out of the latter 
into the receiving galley, at the front. 

A vibrating arm advances the slugs laterally in the galley, and thus as- 
sembles them side by side in column or page-form ready for use. In order 
to insure absolute accuracy in the height and thickness of the slugs, knives 
are arranged to act upon them during their course to the galley. 

After the matrices in the line have served their purpose in front of the 
mold, they are returned to the magazine to be again discharged and used in 
the following manner. The line is lifted from the mold and shifted later- 
ally until the teeth at the top engage the teeth of bar, B. This bar then 
rises as shown by dotted lines, lifting the matrices to the distributor at the 
top of the machine, but leaving the spaces, 7, behind to be shifted laterally 
to the magazine or holder, H, from which they were discharged. Each 
matrix has distributor teeth in its top, arranged in a special order or num- 
ber, according to the character it contains. In other words, a matrix contain- 
ing any given character differs in the number or relation of its teeth from 
a matrix containing any other character. This difference is relied upon to 
secure proper distribution. A distributor-bar, T, in a single piece, is fixed 
horizontally over the upper end of the magazine, and is formed with longi- 
tudinal ribs or teeth, adapted to engage the teeth of the matrices and hold 
the latter in suspension as they are carried along the bar over the mouths or 
entrances of the channels. 

The teeth of the bar are cut awa} 7 to vary their number or arrangement at 
different points in its length, so that there is a special arrangement over the 
mouth of each channel. The matrices are pushed upon the bar at the end, 
and made to slide slowly along it while suspended therefrom. Each matrix 
remains in engagement, and travels over the mouth of the channels, until it 
arrives at the required point, where, for the first time, its teeth bear such 
relation to those of the bar that it is permitted to disengage and fall into its 
channel. 

The travel of the matrices is secured by longitudinal screws, which lie 
below the bar in position to engage the edges of the matrices. The matrices 
pursue a circulatory course through the machine, starting from the bottom 
of the magazine and passing thence to the line being composed, thence to the 
mold, and finally back to the top of the magazine. This circulation permits 
the operations of composing one line, casting a second, and distributing a 
third, to be carried on concurrently, and enables the machine to run at a 
speed -exceeding that at which any operator can finger the keys. 

One half horse power is generally used in driving a machine. About five 
square feet is the space occupied by the machine ; it weighs 1925 pounds, 
and consumes about fifteen feet of illuminating gas each hour to heat the 
metal pot. Each machine will do complete work equal to that of five men 
by hand. The simplicity of the machine bears a striking resemblance to the 



THE ART PRESERVATIVE 563 

typewriter, and this is operated successfully by young girls. When the mat- 
ter set by the machine is placed together, the page presents a surface equal 
to an entire new set of type, or, as the printers say, " We take on an entire 
new dress every day." 

That is a production of the nineteenth century. How commonplace it 
will appear when the achievements of the twentieth century are placed on 
record. 

III. EVENTS AS THEY OCCUR. 

When the nineteenth century opened, great events were occurring in the 
world. Napoleon Bonaparte was the central figure in the eye of Europe. He 
had, but a few years previously (1797), gone through the most brilliant cam- 
paign known. He had crossed the Alps, defeated the Austrians at Montenotte 
and Millesimo, defeated the Sardinians at Ceva and Mondovi, and conquered 
Lombardy, — all in a few weeks. The year following he had conquered 
Egypt, and in 1800 had become the first consul and the ruler of France, to be 
declared Emperor four years later. 

Then followed, in rapid succession, the events which caused the world to 
look upon Napoleon as the probable coming ruler of the universe. It was 
in 1805 that he began the war of aggrandizement. He crossed the Rhine, 
compelling the Austrian army to surrender at Ulm ; he entered Vienna and 
routed the Russian and Austrian armies at Austerlitz. This was followed 
by his move to make himself master of Southern and Central Europe. He 
established his brother Joseph as King of Naples ; his brother Louis as King 
of Holland ; his stepson Eugene as Viceroy of Italy ; and his brother-in-law, 
Joachim Murat, as Grand Duke of Berg. The following year he defeated 
the Prussians and entered Berlin. 

It was not until his abdication at Fontainebleau, in 1814, that Europe and 
America breathed freely. His final overthrow at Waterloo in 1815 removed 
him from the stage as an active participant in the world's history of the nine- 
teenth century. 

In the United States, the close of the eighteenth century was marked by 
the death of Washington, while 1800, 1801, 1802 saw us make a treaty of 
peace with Erance, remove the national capital from Philadelphia to Wash- 
ington, D. C, declare war against Tripoli, purchase Louisiana from France, 
and enter upon the disputes with Great Britain which culminated in a 
declaration of war with the mother country, in June of 1812. 

While these events at home and abroad were making history, long periods 
of time elapsed between their occurrence and their being given to the people. 
There was no telegraphic communication which flashed messages around the 
globe. It was a wait until the mails brought the news. Two months, pro- 
bably, elapsed after the battle of Waterloo ere this country was furnished 
with the story which meant so much to the peace of Europe. 

What a change in this respect was wrought between the downfall of 
Napoleon Bonaparte in 1815 and the downfall of his nephew, Louis Napo- 
leon, in 1870 ! On the fateful second of September, 1870, when the Emperor 
of France, Napoleon III., surrendered to the Emperor William of Prussia, 
on the field of Sedan, the news was flashed to America in less than two 
.hours. On that hot, sultry day eager crowds surrounded the bulletin boards 
of the newspapers, on which were displayed the facts connected with the 



564 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 

overthrow of the Napoleonic dynasty. The difference in time made it pos- 
sible for us here to know all that had been done by the two emperors and by 
Bismarck an hour ahead of their actual happening. For days before that 
the crowds had surged around the newspaper offices, for days afterward they 
did the same, and facts were 'given with a rapidity which showed how won- 
derful had been the scientific stride between 1815 and 1870. 

Had any one in 1815 predicted the possibility of such scenes, he would 
have been put down as a fit subject for a writ of de limatico inquirendo. 
Such, too, would have been the comment on the one who then would have 
suggested the likelihood of a newspaper in this country reaching a circulation 
of a million copies daily, — and yet such has become an accomplished fact. 

At the close of the first quarter of the nineteenth century there had been 
no practical advance in the rapid transmission of news. This was the period 
when the press lacked the facility to rapidly furnish the people with the 
events which were occurring in all directions. Newspapers still depended 
upon the mails. Home events were many weeks reaching sections remote 
from their happening. In this respect there had been some little improve- 
ment at the close of the first half of the century. That was the time when 
the electrical current was being brought into operation in the transmission 
of signals from which messages were being recorded, and these were being 
utilized for the sending of information at short distances. Scientific men 
were even talking of the possibility of connecting distant points on the coast, 
and whispering their hope for an Atlantic cable. In 1858 that wonderful 
event came to pass. The old world and the new were connected by cable 
from Valencia Bay, in Ireland, to Newfoundland, in North America, and mes- 
sages of greeting passed between Queen Victoria and President Buchanan. 
The break which followed soon after the opening of this cable stimulated 
men of genius and men of capital to further efforts, and the governments of 
the United States and Great Britain came forward with generous aid. The 
laying of the Atlantic cable by the Great Eastern in 1864, and its successful 
operation in 1866, opened the doors for the possibilities of the press of to-day» 
and the realization of such scenes as were witnessed in this country on Sep- 
tember 2, 1870. 

Between that memorable year, 1866, and this, 1899, how wonderful has 
been the advance in the transmission of information from all quarters of 
the globe. From the Transvaal Republic, in South Africa ; from the desert 
home of the Dervish in the Soudan ; from the domain of Turkey's Sultan, 
in Armenia ; from the Holy Land ; from the Oriental empires of China and 
Japan ; from the snow-clad land of the Czar in Siberia ; from the Bosphorus 
to the English Channel ; from Valencia across the Atlantic ; from Victoria 
Land in North America to Patagonia in South America; from Maine to 
Mexico ; from the Atlantic to the Pacific ; there are each day transmitted all 
occurrences of interest transpiring, — and these encompass peace and war, 
joy and sorrow, science and art, education and trade, — events which arouse 
the passions and quicken the pulse of humanity. 

This is done through the medium of an organization known as the Asso- 
ciated Press. This wonderful combination has nearly forty thousand miles 
of wire from the different telegraph companies, for which there is paid a 
fixed price per mile. This, however, does not include its cable service, the 



THE ART PRESERVATIVE 565 

charges for which are according to the number of words transmitted. The 
service of this organization costs a million and a half a year, divided among 
several hundred of the great newspapers of the United States. During the 
recent conflict between Spain and the United States its expenditure for war 
news alone was nearly $500,000. This can readily be understood when the 
reader is informed that the cable rate from Manila was $2.37 a word. Thus, 
a dispatch filling less than a quarter of a column of the average daily paper' 
cost $1000. The rate from Porto Rico, at the outbreak of hostilities, was 
$1.90 a word, and it often happened that a single dispatch covering the 
movements of a body of troops in that island, with possibly a pen picture 
of a skirmish with the Spaniards, would cost $2000 in gold. The Santiago 
toll was $1.10 a word ; and whole pages of newspapers were printed at that 
rate. 

What a gigantic institution it has become for the rapid dissemination of 
news events ! 

In that war between Spain and the United States, General Toral, the 
Spanish commander, surrendered Santiago on July 14, at 2.15 o'clock in the 
afternoon. At 2.25 o'clock the message announcing the fact was received in 
Philadelphia. On the 12th of August following, at 4.23 o'clock in the after- 
noon, the Peace Protocol was signed in Washington by the French Ambas- 
sador Cambon and Secretary of State Day, and at 4.27 o'clock — four minutes 
later — the information was in the New York office of the Associated Press. 
Hundreds of such instances of this rapid transmission of news could be 
recorded in this last year of the nineteenth century, — facts never even 
dreamed of when Benjamin Franklin chained the electric current in the 
closing years of the eighteenth century. 

The journey of a piece of news from the far East to the far West is some- 
thing worth noting. The trip covers thousands of miles out of a direct 
route. As for instance, when Admiral Dewey annihilated the Spanish fleet 
in the Bay of Manila, on May 1, 1898, the fact was cabled to Hong Kong, 
China. There an operator transmitted it northward to Helampo in Russia, 
right on the border line of Manchooria, from which place it was sent across 
Russia to Tomsk, thence to St. Petersburg. From the Russian capital it 
zigzagged to Berne, in Switzerland ; thence to Paris ; thence across the chan- 
nel to Penzance, and finally to Valencia, to be put on the cable for America. 
In two hours from the time the operator in Hong Kong started his dispatch. 
it was being hurried across the American continent — north, west, east, south 
— for distribution in the newspaper offices. 

When a party of Mohammedans attacked a Christian mission in Calcutta, 
a telegraph operator dispatched the news to Bombay, whence it was trans- 
mitted to Aden. The next point reached was Suez, from which it was sent 
to Malta. It was next sent to Lisbon. From there it was given to Paris. 
From Malta it was also cabled to Penzance, thence to Valencia, and finally to 
the United States. 

When that Manila piece of news from Admiral Dewey reached the Pacific 
coast in the United States, the date of its being started was yet several hours 
behind the time of its arrival. The attack on the Spanish fleet was made 
on Sunday, May 1, Manila time. The fact was not sent out by Dewey until 
the following morning, May 2 (still Manila time). It was started on its 



566 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

westward course that morning (May 2) at ten o'clock. By the route taken 
to Valencia with the relays, two hours were consumed. This brought it to 
London about three o'clock on that morning of May 2, owing to the differ- 
ence in time. Traveling westward across the Atlantic ocean in advance of 
the sun, it reached New York about ten o'clock in the night of May 1. But 
little time was lost in retransmission to the Pacific coast,' which point it 
reached about six o'clock on that Sunday evening of May 1 — fourteen hours 
previous, by the day of the month, to its being started from Manila. 

In this work of sending out news not a moment is lost that can be avoided. 
The aid of the typewriter enables the operator to keep pace with the sending 
operator, and his pace has been increased in the past few years by the intro- 
duction of a code system. Here is a specimen of the code system as used by 
the operator in sending out a news item : — 

" Madrid, March 17 — T Qn Begent h sined t Treaty of Peace btn Spn & t 
Uni Stas. T treaty wb frwded to t French Ambsdr, Jules Cambon, at Washn, 
fo exg w t one sined by Pr McKinley. No decree q sj wb pud d ' Official 
Gazette.' 

" Ofl rlns btn t 2 govts wi nw b promtly rnud. Ix rmrd 5 Mir to t Uni 
Stas wb Snor. Don J. Brunetti, Duke d'Arcos, fmr Spnh Mir to Mex, wos 
wif is an Amn.' 

When this seemingly incomprehensible conglomeration of letters leaves 
the hand of the receiving operator it reads as follows : — 

" Madrid, March 17 — The Queen Begent has signed the Treaty of Peace 
between Spain and the United States. The treaty will be forwarded to the 
French Ambassador, Jules Cambon, at Washington, for exchange with the 
one signed by President McKinley. No decree on the subject will be pub- 
lished in the ' Official Gazette.' 

" Official relations between the two governments will now be promptly 
renewed. It is rumored that the Minister to the United States will be Seiior 
Don J. Brunetti, Duke d'Arcos, former Spanish Minister to Mexico, whose 
wife is an American." 

The London " Times " recently has been experimenting with a scheme 
whereby reporters in the Houses of Barliament operate the typesetting 
machines in the London office by the wire from their quarters in Parliament. 

It is only a question of time when this practice comes into use in the 
reporting of all legislative proceedings. 

In some of the New York newspaper offices, the receiving operator sits at 
a typesetting machine and puts into type the messages which come over the 
wires. 

How rapidly we have advanced in this direction in the last half of the 
nineteenth century is thus shown. What will be done by our successors in 
the first half of the twentieth century, no man can at this time satisfactorily 
predict. 

IV. TYPE-MAKING, STEREOTYPING, PICTURE-MAKING. 

The manufacture of the small metal pieces called type has undergone little 
change in this nineteenth century. That which has been done has been in 
the way of producing artistic designs, so arranged that combinations can be 
formed pleasing to the eye, and an aid to rapid workmanship. The machinery 



THE ART PRESERVATIVE 567 

in use has lost its crudity, the production has been increased, and the finish 
become more perfect. The setting of type by machinery has been a serious 
blow to this industry, and the time will come when it will be devoted entirely 
to the making of job or fancy types. 

Benjamin Franklin attempted to make metal type in this country, but he 
did not succeed. It was not until 1796 that type-making was commenced 
here. 

As in many other departures in the printing business, the city of Phila- 
delphia took the lead. Binney and Ronaldson, of Edinburgh, Scotland, estab- 
lished the first foundry in this country, operating it in Philadelphia. After a 
severe struggle and with some aid from the State, a business was established 
by the two Scotchmen, which afterwards became known as the Johnson 
Foundry, under MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan, which is still in existence. 
They were followed by David Bruce, also a Scotchman, and by 1813 foun- 
dries had been established in New York and other large cities. 

Since that time improvements have been introduced, but nothing has come 
forth which deserves to be ranked with the printing-press or the typesetting 
machine. 

The type founder will tell you how much better are the machines used in 
1899 than those which produced type in 1850. But he cannot point out any 
device connected with it which the mechanical world can designate as mar- 
velous, or the people at large regard as a wonderful invention. Type once 
was rubbed into smoothness by boys. Now it is done automatically on the 
machine. By the hand process about four hundred types an hour were cast ; 
by the present mechanism a speed of six thousand an hour has been acquired. 
Until about 1875, this output hardly met the demand ; now it will do so. 
Before many years it will be far in excess of the requirements. 

Stereotyping is the art of making plates cast in one piece of type metal 
from the surface of one or more pages of type. In the beginning of the 
nineteenth century, stereotyping was used to an exceedingly limited extent. 
The printers were prejudiced against it for reasons purely selfish. It was 
not until 1813 that it was introduced into the United States, and only a few 
years previously Lord Stanhope introduced it into the English printing busi- 
ness. " The Larger Catechism of the Westminster Assembly " professes on 
its title-page to have been the first work stereotyped in America. It bears 
the date of June, 1813. Now the process is in general use — plaster, clay, 
and papier mache' being used. 

The process of stereotyping originally was to preserve the pages, so that 
an entire edition of a work could be finished without requiring large numbers 
of type, and to have it ready for future editions. For newspaper work it 
came into vogue to save the rapid wearing out of the type by the impressions 
made. 

From the practical introduction of stereotyping in this country, in 1813, 
by Robert Bruce, until about 1850, the slow, tedious, and troublesome pro- 
cess of making the plates by plaster of Paris was in vogue. That was done 
by the plaster being poured over the face of the type. Molten lead was then 
run into the cast, after which the plate was finished. The time thus occu- 
pied caused the work to be confined to books, magazines, and weekly issues 



£68 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

of small journals. When the plate was taken from the cast it was rough, 
imperfect, and unfit for use. Men, whose specialty was finishing, were em- 
ployed to make the plate so as to meet the requirements of the printing 
press. 

It was just at the opening of the last half of the nineteenth century that 
papier mache" began to be used in this country. A few years before that 
time it had been brought into use in London and Paris. Its introduction 
into the United States found the printing trade ready and willing to accept 
it, and but a few years passed before it came into general use by the news- 
papers. It is a peculiar combination. The paper matrix is formed by paste 
of starch, flour, alum, and water. This is spread over a thick paper, on 
which are placed layers of fine tissue paper. When ready for use, it is placed 
•on the face of the type and a deep impression secured by being passed 
through a press. Then it goes into a steam chest to be dried, from there it 
is passed into the casting machine, the molten metal poured in, and a few 
minutes thereafter the plate is ready for the press. Up to a few years ago, 
the impression on papier mache was secured by being beaten with brushes 
prepared for that use. The method had two disadvantages, — consumption 
of time and destruction of type. The press now used obviates these defects. 
The old way took about twemYy minutes to produce a plate. Xow it is done 
in from five to seven minutes. The machinery here introduced has been of 
benefit to the trade, but none of it ranks among the great inventions of the 
century. 

The making of electrotype plates had its origin early in the century, when 
it was found that stereotype plates had a limit as to durability. Electro- 
plating suggested to Josiah Adams, in 1839, the idea of a copper surface for 
the stereot} r pe plate. It took ten years to bring it into practical use. His 
first successful work in this line was on the engravings and borders for a 
Bible issued in New York. It was found to be particularly adapted to en- 
gravings, producing a surface of sufficient smoothness to allow the pressman 
to make a print of exquisite fineness. The improvements introduced tended 
only toward the saving of time and the excellence of finish. Practically the 
same process is used now that was employed half a century ago. An impres- 
sion of the type is made on wax, the electric current is secured by a deposit 
of fine graphite, the mold is placed in a bath containing a solution of sul- 
phate of copper and is made part of the electric circuit, in which also is 
introduced a zinc element in a sulphuric acid solution. The current deposits 
a film of copper on the graphite surface of the mold. When it has assumed 
a sufficient thickness, it is taken from the bath, the wax is removed, and the 
copper shell trimmed. It is then backed with an alloy of type metal. The 
finishing process brings the plate to the proper thickness, after which it is 
blocked to the height required for printing. That is the process. To it in 
the last ten years there has been applied the use of steam machinery. In the 
old days the making of electrotypes required from ten to fifteen hours. They 
now are produced in from two to three hours. 

, The close of the nineteenth century witnesses the disappearance entirely 
from the printing establishment of the once generally irsed wood engraving. 
The rise and fall of this once splendid art is practically encompassed in 



THE ART PRESERVATIVE 569 

the period of time covered by the nineteenth century. Thomas Bewick, an 
Englishman, gave wood engraving an artistic impetus by the production of 
illustrations for his •• Histories of British Quadrupeds," which appeared 
about 1790. Up to that period the work was crude. The books and maga- 
zines of the first decade of the century were illustrated in a way then re- 
garded as highly artistic. The application of the Bewick method brought 
forth work which ranked in the line of high art. Of the development of this 
work volumes could be written. To simplify the situation it is only neces- 
sary to recall how these pictures were made. Squares of boxwood were used, 
on the face of which was spread a preparation of water-color Chinese white. 
On this surface the artist drew his picture, and then the engraver's art was 
brought into requisition — the engraving being done alongside the pencil 
lines. 

And here it was that the artistic instinct of the handler of the " graver " 
appeared, — the delicacy of touch being shown in the shading and in the 
finish of the lines. By this method there have been produced rare works of 
art, as can be seen by an examination of the books printed in the first half 
of the century. 

The time taken in the making of the engravings, however, prevented the 
possibility of their being used by the newspapers and magazines as generally 
as was desired. This want was in a measure met by the introduction of 
machine " grooving." The cuts, however, could not be used to print from 
directly in consequence of the warping of the boxwood, and it was neces- 
sary in every instance to make stereotype or electrotype plates. Then, too, 
came the realization of the fact that the reproduction of portraits needed 
something which would preserve features and expression. In those days 
some of the pictures produced were ludicrous in the extreme, and it became 
a standing joke in the newspapers that the best way to cast ridicule upon a 
public man was to print his picture. In the work of reproducing scenes the 
skill of the artist and the engraver frequently brought forth results which 
were marvels of excellence. For a number of years the wood engraving 
business flourished in this particular line, despite the dissatisfaction existing 
in regard to portrait work. In the production of illustrations for fine books, 
printed on good paper with flat presses and properly "under-" or "overlaid," 
there was attained a degree of perfection in lines and shading which raised 
the pictures almost to the rank of steel and copperplate engravings. Many 
of those engaged in the work of drawing and cutting were possessed of a 
skill which would have won for them distinction in other artistic lines. 

This, practically, was the condition of the profession when the end of the 
first half of the nineteenth century had been reached. Even then, however, 
the question of a substitute was under severe consideration in scientific as 
well as artistic circles. Experiments were made with copper, acids, and zinc, 
but satisfactory results could not be obtained. It was not until 1860 that a 
successful substitute was produced. Gillot, a Frenchman, brought forth a 
System of etching. By this means a photograph from an artist's drawing 
was placed above a plate of gelatine, chemically sensitized. The parts of the 
gelatine exposed to the light became hard, and the remainder was brushed 
away with warm water. From this an electrotype could be made directly. 
That process has given way to the present system of photographing on zinc, 



570 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

and the use of acid baths for etching. Other improvements — principally 
the use of the screen — have resulted in the production of half-tones which 
are highly satisfactory in newspaper work. By this means there can be pro- 
duced such reproductions as give the features of persons so that recognition 
is as easy as in the case of photographs. With the aid of different sizes of 
screens, backgrounds are secured which add materially to the artistic excel- 
lence of the pictures. So well done is the work in this direction that the 
plates can be used on the curved cylinders of the huge octuple presses, and 
enormous editions are printed from them. The peculiarity of this process is 
that the original can be reduced or enlarged so as to suit any width of col- 
umn or page without affecting one way or the other the fineness of the work. 
Pen and ink drawings made by artists are photographed and backgrounded 
with the utmost accuracy as to design and detail. It has been found, however, 
that scenes in half-tones do not give as much satisfaction as do portraits, and 
it is believed to be only a question of time when there is a return to line 
engravings so far as the newspapers are concerned. 

When one compares the photographic reproductions which appear in the 
magazines and newspapers of to-day with those of even ten years ago, there 
is seen an advancement which tells a wonderful story of the rapid inarch of 
artistic taste. The outline picture — excellent of its kind — has the appear- 
ance of crudity almost grotesque when placed beside the life-like half-tone 
reproduction of photographic art. 

Wood engraving has been relegated to the days of the hand-press, the 
mail news-carrier and the plaster of Paris process of stereotyping. Inventive 
genius not only has advanced for the printing press and its adjuncts ; it has 
also laid a heavy hand on art, causing it to pause and consider how soon the 
pencil and the brush will be superseded entirely by the rhythmic motion of 
the machine. 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN MINES AND MINING 

By GEO. A. PACKAED, 

Metallurgist and Mining Engineer. 

When we consider how largely the discovery and exploration of America 
was due to the search for mines, that the precious metals might be found 
to replenish the depleted treasuries of European monarchs ; and when we 
note that, as a result of this search, the world's annual production of gold 
and silver had increased in the three hundred years following the discovery 
from $5,508,000, in 1500, to $48,995,000 at the beginning of the nineteenth 
century, we view with surprise the little progress made during this period in 
the art of mining. 

At the beginning of the present century, we find in use the same gen- 
eral methods that were followed in the time of Columbus. The very first 
operation — the search for veins — was oftentimes conducted after the man- 
ner of the Middle Ages; for in Pryce's " M ineralogia Cornubiensis," which 
seems to have been one of the leading works on mining of the last cen- 
tury, there occurs, among other methods, a lengthy treatise on " How to 
Discover Mines by the Sole Virtue of the Hazel-tree." Powder, although 
it had been invented for centuries, had been so little employed in mining 
that it was considered merely as a last resort. In a description of mining 
methods, another work says : " The soft vein is generally dug with the 
spade and turned out into wooden trays ; but the hard veins are knocked 
out with a gad and a hammer. If the ore is so hard as to be incapable 
of breaking it in this manner, they usually soften it with fire. But a still 
more expeditious method is the working with gunpowder. A small quantity 
ofpoivder does great things this way." 

In 1800 the coal miner was working by the naked light of the tallow dip. 
Cast-iron rails had been introduced but a few years, and rails of wrought 
iron, which could be bent to follow the curves of the drifts, were unheard 
of. The cars were pushed along the levels by boys. Water power, where 
it could be obtained and applied by means of the overshot wheel, was in 
general use for pumping, hoisting, and ventilating. But from many a mine 
the ore was raised by women, who pulled the bucket up " by walking away 
with the end of the rope " which passed from them over a sheave and 
thence down the shaft. In places the ore was still carried up the steep 
inclines to the surface on the backs of women and girls. Ventilation, when 
not secured by natural means, was obtained by bellows operated by men or 
mechanically. A mine which had been worked to a depth of one thousand 
feet was extraordinary. Though steam power, applied in the form of what 
was known as the atmospheric engine, a device utilizing for suction the 
vacuum formed by the condensation of steam in a chamber, had been used 
for years in draining mines, the steam engine, as invented by Watt, had been 
introduced for hoisting in only a few places. The power was applied to turn 
a long crank arm, which rotated the drum. 



572 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 

At the beginning of the century the mines of Cornwall, which were the 
greatest producers in Great Britain, were turning out about 5,000,000 pounds- 
of tin and 10,000,000 pounds of copper a year, while the whole United King- 
dom was furnishing only 170,000 tons of iron. South America was the 
greatest producer of gold and silver, wonderfully rich mines of the latter 
having been found in Peru and Chile. Humboldt places the production of 
the whole South American continent for the year 1800 at 691,625 pounds of 
silver and 9900 pounds of gold. 

The United States at that time had practically no mining within its bor- 
ders. Some small mines of iron, lead, and copper, which had been opened to 
supply the demands created by the Revolution, were producing spasmodi- 
cally ; but even as late as 1821, William Keating, in an address before the 
American Philosophical Society, said, " Upon the whole we think we may 
be warranted in saying that there are as yet no mines in activity in the 
United States. Coal, in most places, is taken from the surface, or dug from 
the foot of a hill. The lead mines of Missouri are rich and abundant, but 
the mining is a mere pilfering of the richest spots." 

In 1801 the Cornish pumping system was introduced. A long rod. extend- 
ing from the surface to the bottom of the shaft, operates simultaneously a 
series of pumps placed, one above the other, at intervals of about two hun- 
dred and fifty feet. The lowest one lifts the water from the pump, and 
delivers it into a tank from which the next one draws its supply, and this in 
turn forces it up to a higher tank. With this improved means of drainage 
mines began to be sunk deeper, a depth of three thousand feet having been 
reached with this method of pumping. The manufacture of iron pumps, 
which had begun to replace wooden ones toward the end of the eighteenth 
century, decreased the amount of repairs necessary on the pumps, and aided 
in making possible better arrangement of underground work. 

It was at about this time, the beginning of the present century, that the 
method of opening ground by shafts, levels, and raises, which we refer to as 
" blocking out ore," began to be more generally adopted, displacing the 
former mode of following down the ore by a series of irregular, isolated ex- 
cavations. With it came overhead stoping, in which, after the shaft has 
been sunk, the level driven and timbered, and a raise made, the miner begins 
breaking down the ore from over his head, allowing it to run down into 
chutes. From these it is drawn out into cars pushed along the tracks in the 
level. The waste is allowed to accumulate on top of the stulls, or timbers, 
forming the top of the level above referred to, and serves as a platform upon 
which the miner stands in breaking down more ore. 

The invention of the safety lamp, in 1815, is probably the most important 
event of the early part of the century. Previous to this the miners fired the 
gas in the " rooms " with their candles, which were raised toward the roof 
with the aid of a long pole, the miners lying flat on the floor of the level to 
escape the blaze, and sometimes putting on wet jackets to avoid being scorched. 
As first invented by Davy, the safety lamp consisted merely of a cylinder of 
wire gauze surrounding the flame, much as the flame is surrounded by a glass 
globe in the modern lantern, except that the diameter of the cylinder did not 
exceed two inches. This was based upon the theory that the gas set on fire 
by the light would burn inside the gauze without heating it hot enough to 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN MINES AND MINING 



57a 



ignite the gas outside. The principle was correct, and the lamp worked satis- 
factorily when carefully used under proper conditions. It was soon found, 
however, that in a strong air current, or if swung at a more rapid speed than 
six feet per second in an explosive mixture, the surrounding gas would be 
ignited. As a man walking naturally on the surface moves at a rate of 
between five and six feet per second, it will be easily seen that even were 
the speed considerably diminished underground, — and any one who has tried 
to follow a mine foreman through mine workings knows the speed slackening 
is slight, — a very slight swing of the arm would bring the rate of movement 
of the lantern up to the danger point. Another and a very unexpected factor 
in causing explosions with the new lamp also developed ; and that was the 
great carelessness of the men who used it. Armed with this device, and 
deluded by the quietly burning flame, the miner would seat himself upon a 




SINKING, DRIFTING, AND STOPIMG WITH THE INGERSOLL-SKRGEANT DRILLS. 



pile of coal, draw forth his pipe and fill it, and deliberately open the gauze to 
light it. As a consequence, for a time after the introduction of the safety- 
lamp, the number of accidents from explosions increased. This latter diffi- 
culty, the recklessness of the miners, was presently overcome by having the 
lamps locked, and by depriving the men of all matches before admitting 
them to the mine. An improved lamp, introduced by Clanny, wherein the 
lower part of the cylinder was replaced by glass, partially protected the 
flame from strong air currents, and also gave a better light. Later, Miiseler 
added an interior sheet iron chimney, which divides the air current so that 
the hot air does not strike directly against the gauze, and the lamp as thus 
improved is very largely used, especially in Europe. 

In 1831 the safety fuse was invented, a train of powder having been used 
before this for firing the charges. The same year a patent was granted to 
Moses Shaw of iSTew York for an electrical device to fire several charges 
at once. It was at about this time, too, that the man-engine was invented in 
Germany. Some miner, noticing the slow and steady up and down motion of 



574 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

the long rods which operated the pumps in the Cornish system, had conceived 
the idea of nailing steps on to them at intervals, and riding up and down. 
As mines grew deeper and the time and labor required for the men to get 
down to their work increased, a special engine, utilizing an improvement of 
this device, was employed for raising and lowering men. This " man-engine " 
consisted of two parallel beams, moving slowly up and down the shaft with 
a reciprocating motion, the length of the stroke being about twelve feet. 
Upon these beams small platforms were nailed at distances equal to the 
length of the stroke. The miner wishing to descend stepped upon the top 
platform of one beam as it started on its down stroke. At the end of this 
stroke he found himself twelve feet down the shaft, on a level with the 
second platform of the other beam, which had in the mean time been coming 
up, and he stepped across on to this, which now began its down stroke. Thus 
by constantly stepping from one rod to the other at the completion of each 




INGERSOJ.L-SEKGEANT DUrLKX STEAM -ACTUATED AIR COMPRESSOR. 



down stroke, he was conveyed to the bottom. By reversing the process he 
was raised to the surface. 

In general, mining progress was slow up to the middle of the century. 
The production of the baser metals, here and abroad, increased gradually 
with the demands of the mechanic arts, but it was not until the middle of 
the century that this factor, joined with the improved methods of transporta- 
tion, and of metallurgy, gave to mining that impetus which, though through 
alternate recurring waves of prosperity and stagnation, carried it forward 
until the annual expenditure for technical skill, machinery, and supplies used 
in the industry is estimated to-day at one thousand million dollars. 

The first mining excitement in the United States occurred in 1829. fol- 
lowing the discovery of gold in the South ; but these fields soon declined in 
importance without resulting in any improvements to mining methods and 
machinery. 

The next mining fever resulted from the inauguration of work upon the 
•copper properties at Keweenaw Point, Mich., in 1845. This caused the first 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN MINES AND MINING 575 

mining-stock speculation in this country, and it is interesting to note that 
the century closes with a repetition of this same fever, founded upon almost 
the same ground. Yet the conditions have changed wonderfully. Upon the 
then barren peninsula, whitened with the tents of speculators and geologists, 
has grown up a multitude of towns, filled with thousands of people whose 
labors are performed at a depth of nearly a mile under ground. Thousands 
more transport the ore to the mills, separate the copper from the rock, and 
cut timber for the mines ; while yet other thousands prepare food and cloth- 
ing and shelter for all these. During 1898, the copper mines about Lake 
Superior produced nearly 160,000,000 pounds of copper, and paid in divi- 
dends 16,490,000. 




THE SERGEANT ROCK DRILL. 



This district is the only one in the United States where the man-engine 
has been used ; but as the shafts were sunk deeper and deeper, it was found 
that even this method was not sufficiently rapid, and the men are now low- 
ered into the mines by cages or skips. A " cage " is simply the miners' 
name for the ordinary elevator when used underground, and has developed 
from the bucket in use at the beginning of the century. A " skip " is a- car 
especially designed for use on an incline. The roadway upon Avhich the skip 
runs is so planned, at the top of the shaft, that the rear wheels run upon a 
track raised above the one over which the front wheels pass, so that the rear 
end is elevated and the skip is dumped automatically. At the De Beers 
diamond mines in South Africa are two of these skips which hold nearly five 
tons of rock each. At the bottom of the shaft are chutes containing the 
37 



576 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



rock, and when the skip is in position a man pulls a lever, allowing the ore 
to run into it. Another pull closes the chute, a button is touched which 
rings a bell in the engine-room, and the skip starts up the shaft. At the top 
it dumps itself and returns to be filled again. In the mean time the other 
skip has been filled and is going up while the first is coming down. With 
these two skips, making ninety-two nips an hour, over four thousand tons of 
rock have been hoisted in less than twelve hours, from a depth of 1250 feet. 
To handle these enormous quantities tremendous hoisting engines are 
used. At the Calumet and Hecla mines is a pair of quadruple expansion 
engines which will lift cages, carrying six tons of ore. a mile in a minute and 
a half. The "Modoc" hoist, built for the Anaconda Mining Company of 
Butte, Montana, is the largest hoist in the world. It is a double compound 
beam engine, and is designed to be used in sinking to a depth of 6000 feet. 




INGERSOLL-SERGEANT STEAM-DRIVEN AIR COMPRESSOR. 



This machine weighs four hundred tons, and has seven separate subordinate 
engines for use in operating it. Think of it ! An engine so ponderous that 
smaller engines are necessary to apply the clutches that set the reels in 
motion; other engines set the brakes, and another reverses the action, if 
need be. All these are controlled by levers operated from the engineer's 
platform, the "runner" having one foot and seven hand levers to handle. 
Besides these there are two indicator discs, directly in front, requiring con- 
stant attention, for these show the exact position of the cage in the shaft. 
Yet such wonderful skill have the runners in the control of these veritable 
flying machines that they instantly interpret the complicated signals, and 
drop the cage with such exactness that the car of ore is run from the track 
in the level to the track on the cage, almost without a jar. 

Nor is the hoist the only large machine necessary in the equipment of the 
modern mining plant, for in sinking to great depths vast quantities of water 
have to be removed. The Chapin Mining Company, at Iron Mountain, Mich., 
have one of the largest pumping engines in the world. This engine is located 



578 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

on the surface, driving the pumps after the Cornish style, though it would be 
difficult to see much of the pump of 1801 in this magnificent machine. With 
a ten-foot stroke it conveys the power to the pumps through a walking beam 
weighing a hundred tons. In an hour it will raise nearly 200,000 gallons of 
water from a depth of a quarter of a mile. 

Imagine the miner of 1800 '• softening by fire " sufficient ore to supply a 
modern hoist. For the mines which now turn out 2000 tons a day can by no 
means be counted on one's fingers, and 2000 tons means more than a foot 
deep over a whole city block. Before the middle of the century the use of 
powder and drill had largely increased, and in 1845 an attempt was made 
to aid the man behind the drill with a machine which swung a hammer by 
steam power. In 1865 a machine was invented using compressed air in a 
cylinder, and this Avas gradually improved until it became a success in 1861, 
in the Mont Cenis tunnel. As finally employed, the power drill is practically 
a small engine, the drill being attached to the piston rod and moved rapidly 




INGERSOLL-SERGEANT STRAIGHT LINE AIR COMPRESSOR. 

back' and forth by compressed air or steam. The machine has three func- 
tions : to strike the blow, turn the drill, and advance it, as the hole is driven 
deeper and deeper. 

Soon after the machine drill became a success dynamite was invented, and 
these two have been the greatest factors in bringing about that rapid develop- 
ment and production which is the most pronounced attribute of modern min- 
ing. Dynamite alone has doubled the amount of ore which can be extracted 
from a face in a given time. Le Neve Foster, in his work on mining, gives 
the rate of advance in driving a tunnel by fire setting at two fathoms per 
month. Compare with this the Niagara Falls tunnel, driven with power 
drills and high explosives, 342 feet in four weeks. 

It is probably to the power drill more than to anything else that we are 
indebted for the development of the air compressor; the exhaust from a 
steam drill and the heat emitted from the pipes being very disagreeable 
under ground. As early as 1800 a Welsh engineer had attempted to run a 
blast by means of a water power a mile and a half distant, but it was not 
until 1865 that machines were operated to any extent by compressed air. 
The great difficulty had been the loss of efficiency, owing to the clearance 
spaces and the heating of the air. In driving the Mont Cenis tunnel but 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN MINES AND MINING 



579 



16 per cent of the power developed was available, and up to 1880 the effi- 
ciency was extremely low ; but to-day as high as 80 per cent is obtained. 
The air compressor is simply a force pump with ingenious devices to over- 
come the loss of energy. For ordinary use the air is compressed to a pressure 
of from 60 to 80 pounds per square inch. This is done in a single cylinder 
for low pressures, but for high pressures two cylinders are used. From the 
compressor the air is conducted to a reservoir, from which it is piped to the 
machine which it is to run. 

One of the advantages of air-driven machines under ground is that the 
exhaust furnishes fresh air to the miners and cools the atmosphere. The 
result has been that in metal mines, where there are no noxious gases 
escaping from the ground, the exhaust from the air-drills, together with the 
natural air currents, has supplied sufficient ventilation. In the coal mines, 
however, it has been necessary to employ other means. After it was found 



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that, even with the safety-lamp, gas would be exploded if a large amount of 
it had accumulated, more attention was paid to ventilation. Levels and 
shafts were divided to produce a natural current ; the size of the drifts was 
carefully figured in order to regulate it ; doors were put in to compel it to 
follow the faces ; devices were adopted to split it, a part going to one room, 
the remainder to a second ; and boxes were built to carry one current across 
another. Early in the century hand fans run by a wheel and pinion had 
been employed for forcing the air down the shaft, but it was soon found that 
the circulation produced in this way was inferior to the result of eduction. 
Large furnaces were then constructed at the bottom of the upcast shafts, in 
order to cause a strong upward current. Again, huge air pumps, run by 
machinery, were tried for exhausting the air. By 1850 exhaust fans were 
coming into use, and these, occasionally replaced by blowers, also used for 
exhausting, are now generally employed. The G-uibal, which has been the 
most prominent of the fans, has been made as large as forty-six feet in 
diameter. The Capell, which is an improved form of the Guibal, has six 



580 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

curved veins, or blades, and is made from eight feet to fifteen feet in diame- 
ter. It is driven quite rapidly, making from one hundred and eighty to three 
hundred revolutions, and having a capacity of from one hundred thousand 
to three hundred thousand cubit feet of air, per minute. The result of this 
thorough ventilation is that the gas is removed from the mine almost as 
rapidly as it enters, and often the safety-lamp is no longer needed by the 
common miner. Nevertheless, it has by no means become useless, since 
as an indicator of the presence of gas it is invaluable. The action of the 
different lamps in the presence of gas varies, but in general the size of 
the flame increases in direct proportion to the increase in the amount of 
gas mixed with the air. Each morning, before the men go to work, the 
fire boss takes his safety-lamp and makes the round of the mine. When he 
goes into a room he watches the flame, and if it burns up to the point which 
indicates that it would not be safe to enter with a naked light, he makes 
a mark on the wall which serves as a danger line be} T ond which the men do 
not go. 

Another machine, which, like the fan, has been developed by the demands 
of the coal mines, is the coal-cutting machine. Probably the lot of no man 
was as hard as that of the coal-digger at the beginning of the century. After 
he had performed the dangerous task of exploding the accumulated gases, 
he was often forced to work all day lying in the most constrained attitude. 
Applied in this manner, his power was largely wasted, and much useless dust 
and small coal was produced. The first effort at relief was a machine which 
imitated the miner, striking a blow with a pick worked by a lever, and mak- 
ing as high as seventy blows a minute. These have been generally replaced 
by quite another type of machine, one which depends on the action of either 
a rotary bar, a rotary wheel, or a chain cutter. These machines are operated 
by either air or electricity. The Jeffrey rotary bar cutter will undercut a 
block of coal thirty-nine inches by fifty-four inches in six minutes. The 
chain-cutter is an endless chain carrying cutting knives and traveling hori- 
zontally. It is claimed that these machines will effect a saving of about ten 
cents a ton in the cost of mining. 

When in 1848 the finding of gold in California was reported, followed in 
1851 by the discovery of the Australian fields, large numbers of men were 
attracted to the placer mines, who later, as the placers became exhausted, 
turned their attention to vein mining. Nor did hydraulic mining itself fail 
to progress. When the placers were first discovered, the miner, standing in 
the shallow stream, washed the gravel, a panful at a time, and secured from 
fifteen to twenty -five dollars a day. As the placers became poorer he built 
sluices, and, shoveling in his gravel, turned the stream in to wash off the 
light rock, while the heavy gold was caught in the interstices between the 
blocks with which he had paved the bottom. If the ground became clayey, 
he brought part of the water through a hose and used it to break up the 
lumps in his sluice box. Then as he gradually removed the gravel and the 
banks about him became higher, he turned his hose toward the bank and 
brought more water from a higher level, until, to quote Bowie, " a forty-inch 
wrought-iron pipe has been substituted for canvas hose and a stovepipe, and 
an inch stream replaced by a river of water discharged through a nine-inch 
nozzle under a four-hundred-foot pressure." By this means, at North Bloom- 



582 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

field, Cal., nearly a million yards of gravel, containing but two and nine 
tenths cents per cubic yard, was moved in a single season, and at a profit. 

As the banks became poorer, the miners turned their attention to the river 
beds. In New Zealand, in the early days, they worked the banks as far 
down into the river as they could reach with a spoon dredge. Then a dredge 
was made resembling a ladder of buckets, continually revolving, and oper- 
ated by wheels driven by the current. When the river got low the current 
became too weak, and a steam engine was substituted. Then a revolving 
screen was put on to separate the large rocks from the fine sand, and gradu- 
ally the modern dipper dredge has been evolved, with its pumps, screen, 
distributors, and tables and sluices, handling 2000 yards of gravel a day at 
a cost of three cents a yard. 

In 1859 the Comstock lode in Nevada was discovered, and it is to this dis- 
trict that we owe the " square set " method of timbering, so largely in vogue 
in wide veins to-day. Some of the " bonanzas," that is, pockets of rich ore, 
were of enormous size. For example, one found in the " Gould and Curry " 
was 400 feet long, 80 feet wide, and 400 feet deep. As the walls were not 
sufficiently solid to stand unsupported, and a single stick of timber was too 
short to reach across, splicing was tried. It was soon found that this weak- 
ened the timber too much, and the method of square " setting " was invented. 
This consists in framing timbers together in rectangular sets, having a square 
base of four pieces, usually six feet long, placed horizontally as sills. Into 
these are framed posts, surmounted by a cap of four additional timbers which 
become the base for the next set. The timbers are usually twelve inches 
square, and cost on the Comstock about $10 a set. From 1870 to 1891 there 
is said to have been used up on the Comstock 200,000 acres of forest, valued 
at $45,000,000. 

The amount of timber which is consumed under ground in a single year 
must be enormous. Mr. C. W. Goodale estimates that in Butte alone, in 
1895, 37,500,000 feet, equal to 3750 carloads, were used in the mines. As 
the timber decays in from five to fifteen years, and has to be replaced, efforts 
are constantly directed toward decreasing the large expense which is thus 
continually recurring. In shafts and levels for permanent use iron is an 
economical substitute. Wherever possible, new methods of mining are being 
introduced. Thus in the Lake Superior iron regions, the mine development 
is planned along lines almost unheard of ten years ago. In the first place 
the gravel which overlies the ore is stripped off, even if it is fifty feet thick. 
This is done with steam shovels, which load the gravel upon cars. These 
are then pulled away by one locomotive while a second places new " empties " 
in position to be filled. One shovel will load from 150 to 175 cars a day ;. 
that is, will take from 3500 to 4500 tons of dirt from the sides of the pit and 
put it upon the cars. This method obviates the use of timber for holding up 
the surface. 

After the overlying gravel is removed, should the conditions be favorable, 
the ore is taken out with a shovel. If this cannot be done, some method 
depending on rock-filling is adopted. At the Auburn mine, after stripping 
and driving the levels, raises are made to the surface at intervals of about 
fifty feet, the ore broken down around them, starting at the surface, and 
dropped down through them. This leaves openings in the shape of inverted 



584 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX'" 1 CENTURY 

cones, having their bases at the surface. Additional raises are then made 
halfway between the others, and the remaining material extracted. 

At the Fayal mine they take out rooms twenty-four feet wide by three 
hundred feet long, with a twenty-four-foot pillar between them. These 
rooms are carried up from the first level to the surface, and filled with gravel 
which is run in from above. Then the pillars are mined by " slicing and 
caving ; " that is, by running drifts along the sides of the pillar and caving 
the ore down from the roof. Alter removing this ore another drift is 
run, the roof caved, and another slice taken off. It is claimed the saving 
in timber by using this method amounts to ten cents on each ton of ore 
mined. 

All of these, and many other inventions, have constantly tended to de- 
crease mining costs. Yet the industry is carried on to-day in so many out-of- 
the-way places, and under such varying conditions, that the cost per ton of 
the ore mined vacillates between wide extremes. As an example of what 
can be accomplished, working on a large scale, and where supplies are easily 
and quickly obtained, the Atlantic mine, in Michigan, may be mentioned. 
This mine produced, in 1898, 370,000 tons of ore, at a cost of sixty -six cents 
per ton. 

With all these wonderful advances in mine mechanics, engineering, venti- 
lation, and lighting, have come the foundation and development of mining 
schools, the rise of technical societies, and a general governmental recogni- 
tion of the importance of the industry. It is not so very far back in the 
preceding century that we find among the statutes of England the follow- 
ing : " Stealing ore out of mines is no larceny, except only those of black 
lead, the stealing ore out of which is felony without benefit of clergy." It 
would be interesting to know the name of the gentleman who owned the 
black-lead mine, for, in modern parlance, he certainly " had a pull." By 
1833 mining legislation had so far progressed in England that laws were 
enacted regulating the employment of children under ground. In this coun- 
try, in 1830, a state geological survey was inaugurated by Massachusetts, 
and this institution has since been copied by many States. The majority of 
the States where mining is carried on have passed laws tending to increase 
the safety of men working under ground. 

Abroad, carefully prepared codes describe the method of lease or sale of 
mining rights, and define the rights of owners of ground. In this country 
the first legislation of this character was in 1807, when the government min- 
eral bearing lands were withdrawn from sale and ordered leased. In 1834 
the miners refused to pay the royalty, owing to the large number of illegal 
entries, and in 1847 the lands were opened to sale. It was not until 1866, 
after fifteen years of self-government among the miners of the West, that 
Congress earnestly undertook to regulate the acquisition of mining titles on 
the public domain. Leagues beyond the towns, miles from the nearest roads, 
hurrying from the scene of one excitement to another, pushed by the crowd 
of .constantly arriving adventurers, with surveyors unobtainable and courts 
not accessible, almost without time to measure, and in a region absolutely 
unlocatable, it had been impossible for the miner of the West to secure a 
legal title to his land as contemplated by the act of 1847. Accordingly, there 
had grown up the custom which gave to the discoverer of a lode the right to 



THE CENTURY'S PROGRESS IN MINES AND MINING 



585 



a certain length of it, and it was this right which was recognized by Con- 
gress, and became the basis of the law of 1866. 

So far our story has been of progress, but what shall we say of the action 
of Congress, which, in 1872, abrogated this law and substituted for it the 
prolific breeder of litigation called the law of the apex ? To quote Dr. Ray- 
mond : " The leading characteristic differs from all previous mining laws of 
this or any other country. The old right of discovery, which was the basis 
of the miner's title down to 1872, has dwindled under the present law to a 
nominal importance. It is true that the discovery of the lode within the 
claim is made a prerequisite to location. But the right to follow the lode in 
depth beyond the side lines of the claim depends no longer upon having dis- 
covered it, but on having included its top, or apex, in the surface survey." 
Should the miner be so fortunate as to have a vein which outcrops plainly on 




THE POWER PLANT AT JEROME PARK, N. T. 
(Ingersoll-Sergeant Duplex Corliss Condensing Air Compressor.) 



the surface, he may stake out the ground without difficulty, so that the vein 
crosses the end lines. But if his vein does not appear on the surface, and he 
fails to 'guess its direction correctly, and finds, on developing, that it does 
not cross the end lines of his claim, he is suddenl} 7 cut off from all extra- 
lateral rights. Or should he, in laying out his lines along the rough, precipi- 
tous mountain-side, fail to make his end lines parallel, he again finds his 
rights limited. Nor has this law been made clearer by court decisions, but 
rather it has been complicated. 

Certainly this is a peculiar condition of affairs. The century which has 
witnessed an advance from the hazel rod to the diamond drill, from the spade 
to the steam shovel, from fire softening to dynamite shattering ; a century 
during which a clumsy car pushed over cast-iron rails by a boy has grown to 
a cable train, and a two-hundred-pound bucket raised by women has devel- 
oped into a six-ton self-dumping skip hoisted by electricity; a century produc- 
tive of new devices which tunnel mountains, cross ravines, or sink through 
quicksands with equal ease ; a century which has seen the touch of a button 



586 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

and the turn of a wheel bring power from thirty miles away to light and 
drain the mine, as well as operate the drills and hoist ; such a century closes 
with a law in force in the greatest mining country in the world which makes 
litigation one of the expected stages of mine development. 

At the beginning of the century the mining engineer advised where to- 
sink, the manner of working, and the method of dealing with the water : 
to-day he must not only be a mining, civil, and hydraulic expert, but a me- 
chanical and electrical engineer, a chemist, and a lawyer. 

The time was when he who leveled forests, built himself a home, and 
brought the land under cultivation, was regarded as the true pioneer of civil- 
ization. In later times the mpier fairly divides this honor. Pursuing a 
hazardous occupation, he has invaded most out-of-the-way and desolate 
places, creating untold wealth, founding towns and States, and inviting vast 
and substantial populations. By his industry and enterprise he has not only 
revealed the seventy-seven non-metallic underground products which in the 
United States alone, in 1899, had a value approximating $500,000,000, but 
the twelve metals — precious and useful — whose value in the same year 
approximated $270,000,000. Around his gold mines — deep and placer — 
have grown California, Nevada, the Dakotas, Colorado, and even Alaska; 
while empires have sprung up at the sound of his pick and the introduction 
of his mighty machinery in Australasia and South Africa. In the develop- 
ment of silver he has contributed wealth, population, and institutions to Col- 
orado, Nevada, Utah, Montana, and Arizona. His iron and copper mines 
have transformed the barren coasts of the Great Lakes. The quicksilver 
mines of Southern California brought San Jose* and other towns to wealth 
and importance. In the history of Ureka and Leadville, Col., we have the 
romance of both the gold and lead mine. And so, whether the miner un- 
earths the ores, the coals, the wonderful variety of buried materials which 
nature has provided for the use and comfort of mankind, he so frequently 
becomes the source of wealth, population, and permanent civic organization 
as to give him high rank among the " true pioneers of civilization." 



ART PROGRESS OF THE CENTURY 

By JOHN V. SEAKS, 

Art Critic Philadelphia "Evening Telegraph." 

I. PAINTING 

At no period since the Renaissance has there been such marked progress 
in certain walks of art as during the period of reconstruction in the politi- 
cal, social, economic, and aesthetic world immediately following the French 
Revolution of 1798. The armies of France, returning from the conquest of 
Europe, brought home to Paris the treasures of art ravished from the great 
capital cities. The vast public galleries and numerous private collections 
established under the first Empire contained accumulations of pictures, 
marbles, bronzes, tapestries, decorations, and bric-a-brac brought from Italy, 
from Germany, from the Low Countries, from Spain, and even from Russia 
and Egypt, of extent and value unparalleled in the history of the human race. 
These treasures were dispersed under the Restoration and returned to their 
former owners; but, in the meantime, their educational influence upon the 
people of France, and especially of Paris, had produced profound and perma- 
nent impressions which abide to this day. To this practical education af- 
forded by the models and examples of all that is noble and exalted, gathered 
from the galleries and safe deposits of the civilized world, France is primarily 
indebted for that cultured skill and that refinement of good taste which have 
enabled her to take and hold her acknowledged position as the leading nation 
in the realm of art in the nineteenth century. 

At the beginning of the century the art of France was resting inert in the 
bonds of classic tradition. Academic conventionality held almost undisputed 
sway; only a few painters of portraits, as, for example, Madame Vigee-Lebrun, 
Isabey, and decorative artists like Greuze, venturing beyond the limits of the 
hard and fast rules prescribed by scholastic pedants. The only subjects 
regarded as legitimate for artistic treatment were illustrations of mythology 
or of Greek or Roman literature. Sacred pictures illustrating the Biblical 
narratives and lives of the saints were permitted for church adornment and 
for religious purposes ; but historic and story-telling pictures of the order 
now known as genre were classic in subject and academic in treatment. Even 
in portraiture, where a likeness was the main consideration, military heroes 
were represented in Greek armor and distinguished civilians were invested 
with the dignity of the Roman toga. 

The high priest of ancient pagan worship in France during the first quar- 
ter of the century was Jacques Louis David (1748-1825). David was a master 
of such real power that he was court painter to Louis XVI., director of Fine 
Arts under the Republic, and again court painter to the Emperor Napoleon. 
His great work. " The Oath of the Horatii," now in the Louvre, first exhib- 
ited in 1784, was universally admired and is still highly esteemed. This was 
followed by a triumphal procession of classic compositions, the most notable 
of which were " The Rape of the Sabines," usually considered to be his 



588 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

masterpiece, "The Death of Socrates," "Paris and Helen," and "Brutus and 
His Sons," all of which have been reproduced many times in prints. David 
was influenced, late in his career, by the romantic reaction, as shown by his 
" Napoleon Crossing the Alps " and his " Floating Martyr," but he cham- 
pioned classic art all his life, his last words expressing an aspiration to paint 
the head of Leonidas. 

The downfall of the classic dominion in France was brought about by the 
revolt of Gericault and Delacroix, about 1820. Jean Louis Gericault (1791- 
1824) was declared by Viardot to have revealed an era when liberty in art 
was revived together with political liberty, joining the general movement of 
the human spirit in the march of progress toward independence. His epoch- 
marking picture, " The Raft of the Medusa," in the Salon of 1819, created an 
intense excitement not only in artistic circles, where it opened the battle 
between romance and classic tradition, but also among the people. Instead 
of Greek heroes, posing like antique statues, this thrilling picture portrayed 
a group of French sailors, perishing amid the horrors of shipwreck and 
starvation, the subject being a scene in the awful tragedy incident to the 
loss of the frigate Medusa in 1816, a calamity which the nation was then 
mourning with unspeakable grief. Women wept and strong men paled 
before this terrible illustration of human agonies endured unto death, but 
the academicians attacked the work and the artist with almost savage fury. 
Gericault, a genius, sensitive and nervous, quailing before the storm which 
beat upon him, fled to England, but, pining in exile, returned home, only to 
die, crushed and broken-hearted. 

Ferdinand Victor Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863) was a man of firmer fibre 
than his friend and fellow-student, and his was the strong hand to take up 
the gage of battle when Ge'ricault fell in the fight. For daring to depart 
from the classic traditions, these two young painters of the commonplace 
subjects of e very-day human tragedy and romantic drama were savagely de- 
nounced by the academicians as traitors, as charlatans, as assassins seeking 
to murder art. The persecution killed Gericault, but Delacroix laughed at 
it. As Theophile Souvestre said of him : " The blindness of ignorance, the 
intrigues and clamors of envy, have not arrested him for an instant in his 
valiant and glorious course." By the splendor of his genius and the virility 
of his work, as shown in his great pictures, " The Bride of Abyclos," " The 
Two Foscari," " The Amende Honorable," and the magnificent series of 
Oriental studies by which he is best known, he established the romantic 
school on a firm basis and attracted to it nearly all the talented and promis- 
ing young painters of Paris. 

Among these students and unknown painters were many whose names 
subsequently became famous, as Horace Vernet, Paul Delaroche, Baron Gros, 
Ary Scheffer, Alexandre Decamps, — artists whose noble productions gave to 
the romantic school its finest triumphs. In the mean time, classic art was 
ably and effectively supported by the distinguished labors of Domenique 
Ingres, pupil and successor of David, Guillaume Guillon-Lethiere, Hippolyte 
Flandrin, and Jean Baptiste Regnault. The Academy, though defeated, still 
lives, and modern lovers of art find that, especially in decorative design, 
there is much to admire in classic subjects. 

After the revolt of the romanticists the most important movement in the 



ART PROGRESS OF THE CENTURY 



589 



world of art also took place in France, and is known as the " Revolution of 
1830." To understand this movement it is necessary to consider the state of 
art in England, as the " men of 1830 " in France derived their inspiration 
from John Constable, an English landscape painter. At the beginning of 
the century the two great artists of England were Sir David Wilkie and 




THE HOLY WOMEN AT THE TOMB. 



J. M. W. Turner. David Wilkie (1785-1841) was a portrait, historic, and 
genre painter, and no English artist up to his time had ever attained such 
wide popularity as he enjoyed. His pictures are all known the world over, 
as witness such titles as "The Rent Day," "Village Politicians," "The Blind 
Fiddler," " King Alfred in the Neatherd's Cottage," « The Village Festival," 
" Reading the Will," " The Chelsea Pensioners," " Blind Man's Buff," " The 
Village School," and "John Knox preaching." 

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) was one of the most remark- 



590 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

able artists that ever lived ; a most original genius, " without ancestors and 
without heirs." He was a landscape painter and a most earnest and faithful 
student of nature, as shown by his wonderful illustrations, in black and 
white, of the scenery of England and Wales. In his paintings, however, he 
interpreted rather than portrayed nature, investing his subjects with the 
grandeur and glory of his imagination. His pictures were " golden dreams," 
revealing the beauty, the majesty, the sadness, and the terror inspired by 
nature, not from observed details " but from the image or ideal in his own 
mind." Of his many masterworks mention can only be made here of "Cross- 
ing the Brook," " Dido in Carthage," " Palestrina," " The Golden Bough," 
"Hannibal Crossing the Alps," "The Slave Ship," "Battle of the Nile," 
" Burial of Sir David Wilkie at Sea," and perhaps the greatest of all, " The 
Fighting Temeraire." 

Turner created no school and left no successor, but he made a distinct im- 
pression on the art of England by stimulating an active interest in landscape 
painting. Patrick Nasmyth, Augustus Wall Callcott, John Linnell, and a 
score of artists turned to the study of rural scenery, with the result that 
they succeeded in establishing what is known as the Norwich school of land- 
scape art. By far the most important name in the annals of this period, 
after Turner's, is that of John Constable (1776-1837). Constable presents 
the contrast of diametric opposition to Turner. His pictures, so far from 
being " golden dreams," are more like cast-iron realities. When Turner was 
an idealist, Constable was an uncompromising realist. If the one painted 
poetry, the other painted prose, and often very rugged, plain prose indeed. 
While Turner subordinated fact to fancy, illuminating his subjects with the 
glow of his fervid imagination, Constable devoutly stood before nature in 
the attitude of a worshiper, and faithfully labored to represent as truth- 
fully as his powers permitted exactly what he beheld. In contrast with the 
shining canvases of his brilliant contemporary, Constable's pictures seemed 
dark, dull, and heavy to the British public, and the original genius of the 
conscientious artist was not recognized. His greatest works, " Declham 
Vale," "The White Horse," "The Hay Cart," "Stratford Mill," "Salisbury 
Cathedral," "The Rainbow," and others were exhibited in succession during 
the second decade of the century, before an indifferent public, only his fel- 
low artists and a few connoisseurs caring for them, the painter meanwhile 
starving in neglect. 

In 1824 two of his pictures were shown in Paris, and were then instantly 
understood and appreciated. They created a profound impression and, as 
has been justly said, inaugurated the second revolution of the century in the 
realm of art. By this revolution the artists were driven out of their studios 
and out of the city, to study nature in the spirit of humble sincerity shown 
by John Constable. Among the young students who went forth to encounter 
poverty, hardship, and the severest toil were the "men of 1830," the founders 
of the Barbizon school of painting. Millet, Rousseau, Diaz, Corot, Troyon, 
Daubigny, and Dupre left Paris and the ways that then led to success, and 
sacrificed themselves to what they saw to be the truth in art. They carried 
the study of out-door nature further than ever before ; created the standard 
of modern landscape art, and attained immortal fame, though not until their 
leader and prototype had perished in poverty. 




CHRISTMAS CHIMES. (BLASHFIELD.) 




WHISPERS OF LOVE. (BOUGUEKEAU.) 



38 



592 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

Jean Francois Millet (1815-1875) has been called the greatest painter of 
the nineteenth century, and his masterpiece, " The Angelus," is regarded by 
many as second only to the " Sistine Madonna'" of Raphael in the brief cata- 
logue of the world's artistic treasures. He lived the life of a poor peasant 
in the rural village of Barbizon, attracting around him, late in life, the ablest 
of the " men of 1830," and producing there those works which have placed 
his name first on the annals of our time : " The Sower," " Waiting," " Sheep- 
shearers," " Woman Carding," " The Gleaners," " Shepherdess and Flock," 
and the few others that constitute the tale of his exceedingly careful and 
long-considered compositions. 

Theodore Rousseau (1812-1867) was declared, by Edmond About, to be 
the Moses who led the landscape painters of France out of the Egyptian 
bondage of academic convention into the promised land of liberty, where 
rivers ran water, where trees were rooted in the ground, and where animals 
lived, moved, and had their being. As late as 1848 the Salon rejected Rous- 
seau's noble work, " The Alley of Chestnut Trees," one of the finest land- 
scapes ever painted ; but this was the last act of the academic tyrants, the 
foolish offense against the great master causing the old classic pedants to be 
relegated to oblivion. Rousseau took up his residence in Barbizon, and in 
the forest of Fontainebleau and the adjoining country studied those rural 
and pastoral scenes that have given him his place as one of the first, if not 
tjhe very first, of landscape painters. Of these magnificent examples of land- 
scape art, mention can only be made here of " The Village," " A Pool under 
Oaks," " Edge of the Forest at Barbizon," " A Forest Interior," " Water 
Course at Sologne," and " Hoar Frost," these being the pictures best known 
to the public through reproductions in black and white. 

If Turner was a painter of " golden dreams," Corot was a painter of silver 
dreams ; the pearly haze of early morning, the pale sky and misty tree-forms 
qf a gray day, and the soft, low tones of a still, cloudy afternoon attracting 
his loving devotion and commanding the conscientious exercise of his skill. 
Jean Baptiste Camille Corot (1796-1875) was certainly one of the happiest 
artists that ever lived. Like the other " men of 1830," he was ostracized by 
the Academy, and he was never allowed to receive the first medal of the 
Salon, but he had every other honor and compensation, and, late in life, was 
given a magnificent gold medal by popular subscription. For many years 
he could not sell a single picture, but, being fortunately independent, in a 
modest way, he continued to paint the subjects which, as he said, delighted 
his heart, and to treat them, as he again said, " with truth to your own 
instincts, to your own method of seeing, with what I call conscientiousness 
and sincerity." In due time Corot conquered his world and, in the height 
of his career, was earning not less than $50,000 a year by his brush. He was 
a constant visitor at Barbizon, maintained a close intimacy with his friends 
there, and studied in the vicinity many of the hundreds of landscapes his 
industrious and tireless hand rejoicingly produced. 

' Jules Dupre (1812-1889) and Charles Francois Daubigny (1817-1878) are 
distinguished members of the " 1830 " group, each standing at the head of 
the department of landscape art to which he was especially devoted. Nar- 
cisse-Virgil Diaz de la Pefia, called Diaz (1807-1876), another of the frater- 
nity, was not technically so thoroughly trained as his fellows, but he was a 



ART PROGRESS OF THE CENTURY 593 

stronger colorist than any of them and a romanticist of the most pronounced 
type. Constant Troyon (1810-1865) was the most eminent cattle-painter of 
the century. He came on the scene after the revolt of Gericault was accom- 
plished, but was in full sympathy with the movement, and is usually ac- 
counted as one of the revolutionists. So also with Jean Leon Gerome (1824), 
an artist surviving to the close of the century. 

He first exhibited in 1847, but he took up the line of Oriental romance, 
following Delacroix, and made so strong an impression with his illustrations 
of the splendors and glories of the East that his influence in art will be felt 
for generations to come. After attaining fame as a painter, Gerome also 
developed marked ability as a sculptor. 

In strict chronological order the birth of the pre-Raphaelite movement in 




GREEK GIRLS PLAYING AT BALL. (LEIGHTON.) 



art preceded the "revolution of 1830," as the event actually occurred in 
Rome, about 1812. The movement was not originally known by the name 
subsequently given it, and it did not attain to more than local importance 
until it was fully developed in England, about 1850. It is to the great Ger- 
man artist, Peter von Cornelius (1783-1867). that the honor of originating 
the pre-Eaphaelite revolution must be given. In 1811 Cornelius went to 
Rome and soon became the master spirit of the " Brotherhood of Painters," 
popularly called " Nazarites," banded together for the study of the thirteenth- 
century Italians, Cimabue and Giotto, and their successors in the century 
following, Gaddi, Simoni, and Orcagna. This Brotherhood was afterward 
imitated by Rossetti in London, and its purposes more fully developed ; but 
it was the young German enthusiasts of the previous generation who affected 
a revival of the pure religious spirit, the devout simplicity, and the absolute 
sincerity of the Italian artists before the era of Raphael. 

Cornelius returned to Germany in 1816, became the founder of what is 



594 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

known as the Munich school of painting, and was made director of the Art 
Institute of that city. He exercised a controlling influence in the evolution of 
modern German art and, indirectly, on art in England and in America. His 
pupil and successor, Wilhelm von Kaulbach (1805-1874), imparted vitality 
and power to the Munich school, attracting to his classes students from all 
civilized countries. During the second and third quarters of this century, 
Kaulbach reigned as the first artist of Germany and one of the first in the 
world. 

Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882) founded his pre-Raphaelite Brother- 
hood in London, with John Everett Millais — subsequently president of the 
Eoyal Academy — and William Holman Hunt, in 1848. The pre-Raphaelite 
movement gave a richer and stronger color to English painting in the latter 
half of the century, and also awakened general interest in early Christian 
art, that is, the art of the Italian Renaissance. Beyond this, Rossetti's 
new departure, though widely advertised by John Ruskin, had very little 
permanent effect. Millais soon left the Brotherhood and produced his 
master-works, the greatest historic-genre pictures of his time, in England, 
after outliving pre-Raphaelite influences. 

Little known outside of England, that movement did not entirely absorb 
British art, as proved by such a man as G. P. Watts, a master of portraiture, 
who made studies of many of the most notable men of the century in 
England, besides many imaginative works of great interest. Others were 
Holman Hunt, with his powerful religious conceptions, and the talented Land- 
seer family, the youngest member of which, Edwin, is Avorld-famous for his 
animal pictures. The critic and philosopher, John Ruskin, studied art and 
became a proficient draughtsman, although never using his skill profession- 
ally. His literary works on art, however, have had so Avide an influence 
that it seems just to include him in the list of contributors to art's progress 
in this era. His criticism of the fantastic productions of James McNeill 
Whistler brought forth a controversy and law suit, resulting in a verdict of 
damages of one farthing to the injured artist, and enough advertising gratis 
to secure his fame. The genius of the latter for achieving artistic effects 
and personal notoriety are equal to his skill in avoiding oblivion. He is a 
unique and interesting figure, despite his abnormal vanity, for his unques- 
tionable talent in many lines of art, and is American by birth, English by 
adoption, and now French by force of circumstances. Edwin Abbey is also 
an adopted son of Britain, although born in America. He is better known 
through illustrative work in black and white, but his superb decorations 
in the Boston Public Library testify to his great skill as a colorist. The 
most illustrious growth of foreign seed on British soil has been Lorenz 
Alma Tadema, whose wonderful representations of Greek and Roman life 
place him hors concours as an artist, and hold before our eyes a mirror of 
ancient days. Sir Frederick Leighton, the recently deceased president of 
the Royal Academy, was a true Briton and a leader of modern art in Eng- 
land, as also was Mrs. Elizabeth Thompson Butler, with her patriotic war 
pictures, as vigorous as any man's could be. A talented young artist, whose 
untimely death cut short a promising career, was Frederick Walker, who is 
said to have been the original of " Little Billee " in Du Maurier's famous 
novel of student life in the Latin Quarter, " Trilby." That masterpiece 




LANDSEEIl AND HIS FAVORITES. (BY HIMSELF.) 



696 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

takes us into the art atmosphere of Paris, and we readily understand why 
there is the centre of the artistic circle. 

From thence have risen most of the great modern names, one of the great- 
est and most honored being that of Rosa Bonheur, who has received all 
possible distinction as an artist and reverence as a woman. Her animal 
pictures, especially horses and cattle, are known the world over, and the 
story of her early struggle for study, disguised as a boy, that she might 
work unmolested where a girl could hardly have gone, is well known, yet 
she never renounced an atom of her womanliness in adopting masculine 
attire. It is hard to avoid dwelling on the lives and works of the modern 
masters, but we must pass over the intermediate period between the revolt 
of 1830 and our own day, touching only an especially shining light here 
and there, such as Jules Breton, with his sturdy peasants ; Ldon Bonnat, 
Alexandre Cabanel, and Carolus Duran, with their elegant distingud por- 
traiture. Besides these are Edouard DelaiHe and Alphonse de Neuville, 
showing faithful studies of soldier life and action; Eugene Fromentin, with 
his picturesque Arabs ; and the decorative allegories of Puvis de Chavannes. 
The brilliant Spaniards, Mariano Fortuny and Don Frederick Madrazo, are 
practically Frenchmen in their art, although each is distinctly individual in 
manner. We must also mention Vibert, with his delightful little satires on 
the human frailities of the holy lathers of the Church, and Meissonier, the 
master of exquisite finish in detail, and Passini, with his small canvases 
crowded with Oriental figures glowing with color. In addition to the great 
French names of this time are Def regger, of the Munich School ; Israels of 
Amsterdam, Schreyer of Frankfort, whose works all hold that quality dear 
to the popular heart, but despised by the high priests of lofty criticism now- 
adays, that is, they have a story to tell, and they tell it. 

At the time these men were telling their artistic tales in Europe, such 
men as Washington Allston, the first great painter in this country ; Thomas 
Sully, whose rare works in portraiture entitled him to paint the Queen of 
England, Victoria, when a girl ; Henry Inman, also a great portrait painter ; 
George Fuller, a painter of poetic dreams ; and many others of talent, had said 
their say in America. Almost with the beginning of the new country, pub- 
lic interest had been roused in the fine arts by the efforts of such men as 
Gilbert Stuart and the Peales, Charles and Rembrandt, who bridged the 
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries together, and labored to advance the 
cause of art. Schools and academies, with adequate galleries for exhibition 
purposes, became necessary ; and such institutions as the Pennsylvania Acad- 
emy of the Fine Arts and the National Academy of Design in New York 
were established. The latter was started in 1802, but did not receive its 
charter until 1808 ; so the Pennsylvania Academy, which was incorporated in 
Philadelphia in 1806, was really the first of its kind in the country. In 1807, 
the minutes bearing the date of October 8 record as follows : " Until the 
funds of the institution will admit of opening a school on a more extended 
plan, persons of good character shall be permitted to make drawings from 
the statues and busts belonging to the Academy," thus showing the humble 
beginning of art education in America. Naturally, for many years the facili- 
ties for learning were too limited to supply more than rudimentary instruc- 
tion, and the pilgrimage to Paris was a necessity before an artist could 



598 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

feel qualified to launch out professionally. In these latter clays that need 
no longer exists, for the great art schools of New York, Philadelphia, Boston, 
Chicago, and St. Louis can amply provide all that is required; but the charm 
of the Latin Quarter still draws as a magnet all who can afford to go there. 

In that centre is a constant mingling of ideas from all sources seeking new 
forms of expression, out of which proceed the impulses that vibrate through 
the world of current art. Naturally enough many of the new departures are 
futile experiments, short lived and not sufficiently important to discuss; but 
within recent years the movement known as impressionism has been so wide- 
spread in influence, so radical in method, and so vital in result, that it has 
doubtless produced a permanent effect on art. Like its predecessor, the re- 
naissance after the dark ages, this mouvement moderne was an upheaval of 
all forms of expression ; and in painting it seemed as if a wave of dazzling 
color had burst over the studios, drenching the canvases with rainbow tints, 
flooding- the exhibition galleries with bewildering brilliance. The unaccus- 
tomed eye was overwhelmed, and the confused and wondering public burst 
into loud outcry against the insane folly of these mad young painters, who 
showed purple and green gridirons, speckled with green and streaked with 
scarlet, and called them landscapes, marines, and figure studies as they chose. 
Of course the pendulum swung to its limit, the radicals carrying things to 
extremes after the fashion of their kind, and making foolish caricatures of 
work that was really great. By degrees, however, sober sense prevailed, the 
new ideas became better understood, the public point of view changed, and 
it was seen that there was method in this madness. The new movement 
was intended simply to interpret what the artist saw most forcibly expressed 
by any given subject, or, as the name implies, to record his first impression 
and convey the idea rather by suggestion than by explicit statement and 
detail. Applied to out-of-door subjects, these principles were carried out by 
the plein air colorists, as they were styled, from their efforts to suggest 
atmosphere glowing with light, a feeling of space and sunshine. Edouard 
Manet was the leader of the new school in figure work, and Claude Monet in 
landscape. No two styles could be more widely different save in their mu- 
tual abhorrence of detail ; the first dark, heavy, and sombre in color ; the 
latter luminous and palpitating, every conceivable tint vibrating into har- 
mony, an example which is followed in this country by Childe Hassam, often 
successfully, but sometimes with extravagance. After reaching extreme high- 
water mark, the flood of brilliance has somewhat subsided, and latter-day 
painters do not find it necessary to observe the world through a prism. 
While returning to more sober statements of simple truth, without trying to 
copy a kaleidoscope, the vision men have had of pure color sparkling with 
light has given them an insight into Mother Nature's method that has left a 
lasting impression upon the minds and manners of the best workers and 
lifted the whole tone of modern painting. Whether one was prepared to 
enjoy truly impressionistic pictures or not, the force of them in a collection 
of works in the old manner of hard outline and heavy shadow could not 
fail to be felt like a beam of light in a dark room. However one might pro- 
test against the invader, the old friends looked dull and flat after a time, in 
spite of the most determined loyalty. The style of the Hudson Biver school 
was narrow and petty, full of trifling little details, the color often being 



ART PROGRESS OF THE CENTURY 599 

forced and theatrical in effect. The striking scenery of that noble stream 
inspired the efforts of American landscape painters of the two decades from 
1830 to 1850. Asher B. Durand was a leader among them, and for many 
years the manner of a generation past held sway until the new method forced 
a place for itself. It was an amusing experience in following exhibitions of 
late years to see, one after another, the leaders, long established in their own 
particular methods, finally breaking away from lifelong habits and coming 
into line with the new movement, some keeping step bravely with the vigor- 
ous newcomers, some halting along with pitiful attempts at a jaunty stride. 
The strong men neither hung back in sulky indifference nor flung themselves 
wildly about in exuberant freedom, but kept quietly on the even tenor of 
their way, absorbing what was best in the new, holding fast to what was 
best in the old, and producing the kind of work that is independent of 
schools and eras, but intrinsically great in itself. In Paris, the younger 
workers who began sending strange wild landscape and figure pictures to the 
exhibition at the Salon of the Champs Elyse'es, the most important annual 
exhibition in the world, were indignantly rejected by the horrified jury of 
selection. Equally indignant at their treatment, the young painters, who felt 
themselves to be the coming men, gathered their rejected treasures together 
in an independent exhibition of their own, and established a rival salon in 
the Champ de Mars, which has come to hold an equal footing in the world 
of art with the older institution. 

By reference to " men " we do not at all exclude women, for there is no 
sex in art, and women of our time paint as well as men, holding equal rank 
in the exhibitions, equal places on the juries of selection, and receiving equal 
honors and awards. One of the foremost women of the day is a Philadel- 
phian, Miss Cecilia Beaux, whose portraiture ranks among the highest. Miss 
Mary D. Cassatt is also a Philadelphian, although long resident in Paris, 
and highly esteemed there. Her name is mentioned in a recent notice of a 
Salon exhibition among those of distinguished men, which concluded with 
the words " and other strong men," meaning thereby no grain of disrespect 
to the woman, but only honor to the artist, classifying her as among the first 
painters of the time. Important exhibitions nowadays are likely to contain 
strong works by many women, such as portraits by Mrs. Sarah Sears of Bos- 
ton or Mrs. Rosiha Emmet Sherwood of New York, child studies by Ellen K. 
Baker, or animal studies by Mrs. Helen C. Hovenden, widow of the late 
master of modern genre, Thomas Hovenden, whose untimely death the art- 
loving public of this country has not ceased to mourn. His faithful studies 
of American domestic life have touched the people, who are, after all, the 
final art critics, despite the claims of those who feel themselves especially 
qualified by taste and training to tell others what they must and must not 
like. Many times public opinion has been unduly slow in setting the seal of 
its approval on worthy works, but once established in the heart of the popu- 
lace, immortality is assured, and that place belongs preeminently to Thomas 
Hovenden, as proved by the throngs that stood before his picture " Breaking 
the Home Ties," at the World's Fair in Chicago. That cosmopolitan collec- 
tion showed, among other interesting developments, a strong school of vigor- 
ous young Norsemen, hardy vikings of art from Scandinavia, of whom 
Anders Zorn was the leader, with a variety of figure subjects, studied in- 



600 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

doors and out, with an unconventional freedom and dash as inspiring as 
the breezes of his native fjords. Prince Eugene, the handsome popular sec- 
ond son of the King of Sweden, was no mean contributor to this school. 
Fritz von Thaulow is a Norwegian by birth, but being well recognized in 
France he has taken up his abode at Dieppe, although still finding inspira- 
tion in his native land. He is an exponent of the theory of tone in painting, 
as it is technically termed. This refers to the quality of harmony, or per- 
fect balance of light and shade and color. It does not depend upon the key 
of the picture, whether light and bright or dark and sombre, but consists in 
keeping the relations of the different masses of color true to each other, the 
small details subdued to their proper places, yet each having its correct value 
in the whole. 

The Scotch painters, stimulated no doubt by the success of their literary 
brethren, have established the Glasgow school of art, most original in its 
methods, and in some cases highly peculiar in its results, but with unques- 
tionable strength in its more serious and less fantastic work. John Lavery 
is a leader among these men. Germany prides herself on one of the greatest 
painters of modern times in the person of Adolph Friedrich Menzel, a Prus- 
sian, born 1815, contemporary with Meissonier. As the latter was devoted 
to the Emperor of the French, so was Menzel to his hero, Frederick the 
Great, and their vivid portrayals of their respective sovereigns will keep the 
personality of these conquerors fresh as long as art lasts. For many years 
Menzel has been artist laureate to the court at Berlin, painting Hohenzol- 
lern family portraits, battle pieces and scenes of court splendor in the most 
masterly manner. The Hungarian, Munkacsy, has been widely known by 
his huge religious works, lately exhibited in this country, — " Christ before 
Pilate " and the " Crucifixion." His work shows great power and much 
originality in conception, although often somewhat morbid, a not unnatural 
condition, as the unfortunate artist has become hopelessly insane. The oppo- 
site extreme of expression is to be found in the gorgeous coloring and superb 
compositions of Hans Makart of Vienna, notably his " Coronation of Cathe- 
rine Cornaro at Venice." A revival of interest in religious subjects has re- 
cently appeared, possibly stimulated by the work of Mr. James Tissot, a 
Parisian, who has given ten years to the production of a series of careful 
studies of the life of Christ. These little paintings, numbering some five 
hundred in all, are the result of close research in the Holy Land into the 
conditions of life and customs which prevailed at the time of Christ, and 
are a tribute of religious devotion. Whether through this influence or not, 
Dagnan-Bouveret has been inspired to paint a number of strong scenes of bib- 
lical subjects, two conceptions of the Last Supper being very powerful. A 
young colored man, H. O. Tanner, has achieved success on similar lines, an 
"Annunciation " recently shown giving evidence of deep and original thought. 
Curiously enough, the women painters of distinction do not seem to be given 
to religious subjects. One serious lack in most of the work exhibited in 
recent years is the absence of any importance in subject. The artists have 
been so concerned to express what they saw in the simplest manner, that 
they have carefully avoided seeing or thinking about anything but the sim- 
plest things to be expressed. While some powerful work has resulted, it has 
often been labor worthy of a better cause, for the pictures produced have had 



ART PROGRESS OF THE CENTURY 



601 



little to tell beyond the skill of the painter. A nobly painted cabbage field, 
or a superbly handled stone wall with the tail of a woman's skirt disappear- 
ing around a corner, may be masterly painting, but it is not great art; and 
it is to be hoped that the day of meaningless canvases will soon pass, and 
the coming painters will not be content to discourse grandly about nothing. 

Among the leaders of current art in America, the place of honor in por- 
traiture belongs to John S. Sargent, who easily ranks with Boldini and 
Benjamin Constant in Paris. He is closely followed by Edmund C. Tarbell, 
John H. Alexander, with his love for long flowing graceful lines of drapery, 




AT THE SHRINE OP VENUS. (ALMA TADEMA.) 



Robert Vonnoh, and William M. Chase. John McClure Hamilton has made 
some striking studies of some of the most prominent people of our time, 
among them Gladstone and Pope Leo XIII. Elihu Vedder, John LaFarge, 
Will H. Low, Carroll Beckwith. Abbott Thayer, and E. H. Blashfield are 
figure painters whose subjects are frequently of a decorative or semi-reli- 
gious character. The latter is noted for his literary as well as artistic ability. 
George H. Boughton, though called an American, really belongs to England, 
where he paints interior genre subjects usually of olden times. John Swan, 
the animal painter, is also English. The names of Moran and Sartain are 
distinguished in the history of American art, each family having contributed 
several generations of talented painters. The elders were contemporary 
with Daniel Huntington, long president of the National Academy of Design, 



602 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

and Eastman Johnson, whose " Old Kentucky Home " was famous. William 
T. Dannat, Herbert Denman, Frederick Bridgman, and F. L. Weeks are all 
strong figure painters, the last two being especially given to Oriental sub- 
jects. Winslow Homer includes figures with his marine studies, often pre- 
senting groups of peasants on a stormy shore, while Alexander Harrison and 
W. T. Richards usually confine themselves to marines pure and simple. The 
ragged, dirty little street Arabs of J. G. Brown have been exceedingly popu- 
lar, and so have the landscapes of H. Bolton Jones. The list of modern 
landscape painters really deserving of mention is far too long to give in 
anything like complete mention. A few leaders, such as Charles H. Davis, 
Homer Martin, the late William T. Picknell, and George Inness must suffice 
to close our talk on the painters of this century. 

II. SCULPTURE. ( 

Human progress seems to advance in waves, sending forerunners to an- 
nounce the gathering tide ; and the ebb and flow of force is felt in all manner 
of endeavor, but in nothing so instantly or accurately as in the fine arts, the 
most sensitive and subtle forms of human expression. The plastic arts are 
as keen to record these changes as the pictorial, and the coming power of the 
nineteenth century found a few prophets in the dying years of the century 
passing away. Antonio Canova (1757-1822), born near Venice, left many 
graceful and delicately finished works. His " Three Graces " and group of 
" Cupid and Psyche " are well known, also his colossal bust of Napoleon 
and seated statue of Washington for the State of Carolina. France pro- 
duced a master in Jean Antoine Houdon (1741-1828), more vigorous than 
his contemporaries, as seen in his powerful work, the seated statue of Vol- 
taire. His statue of Washington, in the state capitol of Virginia, while pre- 
serving a faithful likeness, has a singular air of French elegance. Despite 
his strength, Houdon was not more accurate in study than the great Dane 
Thorwaldsen, born at Copenhagen, 1770. His famous " Lion of Luzerne " is 
known to all tourists, and his . bas-relief s are familiar the world over. His 
chief religious works, the colossal figures of Christ and the twelve apostles, 
are in the church at Copenhagen, where he died in 1844. The greatest name 
of this period in England was John Flaxman (1755-1826), who was as success- 
ful a teacher as he was a worker in his art. He was the originator of the 
cameo designs on the Wedgwood ware, being particularly happy in delicate 
reliefs. Christian Daniel Rauch (1777-1857) achieved the place of honor 
among German sculptors of this time by his heroic imperial monuments, of 
whieh the most important is the equestrian statue of Frederick the Great. 

Although, for many generations, Rome was the Mecca of artistic pilgrims, 
and most of the great names have at one time or another been enrolled upon 
the list of students sojourning within her gates, the race characteristics of 
each strong mind were liable to find expression in spite of classic training ; 
and when the mature artist brought forth his own creations independent of 
the touch of school or master, they were likely to present his own national 
tendencies of thought. Of late years, with increased facilities for studying 
other art centres, of intercommunication of ideas by travel and increasing 
duplication of works of art by various reproductive processes, the "art 
atmosphere " seems to have extended so as to absorb, and in a great measure 



ART PROGRESS OF THE CENTURY 603 

obliterate, distinct lines of racial difference in manners of expression, the 
fundamental principles of truth being more generally sought for and applied. 
Thus, the unmistakably Teutonic aspect of German sculpture in the early 
half of this century shows in the great monument to " German Unity," by 




NAPOLEON I. (CANOVA.) 

Schilling, at ISTiederwald on the Rhine, and the Walhalla decorations, by 
Ludwig Sch wan thaler, for King Louis of Bavaria. German seriousness of 
purpose lends a dignity of appearance, even if it becomes somewhat grandi- 
ose at times, and German painstaking accuracy perfects the technique even 
to the finish of small details. During the same periods, in Italy, the classic 
influence was more dominant where the Roman school still held sway, and 



604 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

delicacy deteriorated into insipidity, and finish became finical. Religious and 
classic subjects were most frequently produced, beside more vital work in 
portraits, statues, and busts. Some there were who struggled for freedom, 
among them Lorenzo Bartolini (1777-1850), a Florentine professor, whose 
group, entitled " Charity," is in the Pitti Palace. Luigi Pampaloni achieved 
a surprising fame for his figures of children, one of which, from a monument 
on a Polish sepulchre, has been widely copied in cheap plaster under the 
erroneous title of " The Praying Samuel." 

In France, the advance of sculpture has been more continual and consist- 
ent, the national artistic temperament finding abundant means of expression 
in the plastic art. The French dramatic instinct has a sure perception of 
the effect of a pose, the value of graceful or vigorous lines and the balance 
of proportion, so that whether under bonds to academic tradition in matters 
of technique, or broken loose and working under individual inspiration, the 
French sculptor is likely to create an artistic result. The minds of the com- 
mon people are more awakened to artistic impressions through the general 
excellence of the public monuments and sculptural decorations, so freely dis- 
played throughout the land, than are the masses in countries where art is at 
a low standard. Until after the middle of the century, French sculpture, 
like the rest, was mainly of smooth and delicate finish and inclined to be 
romantic, though Francois Rude was powerful and vigorous, as shown in his 
patriotic group "Le Chant du Depart" on the Arc de Triomphe. In England, 
the seeds of Flaxman's sowing slowly began to bear fruit in an awakening 
public interest, though the earlier efforts were sedate and conventional rather 
than spirited, the most important works being dignified and stately monu- 
ments and memorials. Westmacott (1777-1856), Francis Chantrey (1782- 
1841), whose large fortune was bequeathed to the Royal Academy as the 
" Chantrey Fund ; " John Gibson (1791-1866), a pupil of Canova; Henry 
Weeks (1807-1877), who made the first bust of Victoria as Queen ; and 
Alfred G. Stevens (1817-1875), are a few of the more notable men of the 
past generation. Thomas Woolner (1825-1892) expressed the feeling of the 
pre-Raphaelite movement in sculpture, as did Hunt, Burne-Jones, and Ros- 
setti in painting. 

American sculpture began with the new century and, like most American 
growths, began in a very small way ; for although Rush had made a few 
figures, notably a fountain now in Fairmount Park, one of the first pieces of 
sculptural work in the country was that of a poor New Jersey stone-cutter, 
John Frazee, who tried to comfort himself for the death of his child by mak- 
ing a memorial figure of him, although he had never seen a statue. From this 
meagre beginning started a line of ever-increasing strength, until now, in the 
plastic arts, as in all others, we can hold our own with the best in the world. 
Of course the earlier students, led by Horatio Greenough, of Boston, Hiram 
Powers, of Vermont, and Thomas Crawford, of New York, made their way to 
Rome, where they applied the traditional methods to traditional subjects with 
conventional results. Greenough's colossal statue of Washington is in the 
Capitol grounds ; Powers's " Greek Slave " is owned by the Duke of Cleve- 
land ; and Crawford's " Orpheus seeking Eurydice," now in the Boston Mu- 
seum, and " Colossal Liberty " in the Capitol, are his best-known works. 
Erastus Palmer, of Albany, contemporary with these, developed his talent at 



ART PROGRESS OF THE CENTURY 605 

home, and secured models and subjects from his own neighborhood, giving a 
distinctly American character to his work. Among the most noted of the 
American colony at Rome, although not particularly given to American sub- 
jects, was William Wetmore Story, of Salem, Mass., born in 1819. Thomas 




STATUE OP BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. (BOYLE.) 

Ball, born in the same State in the same year, was of the same class in Rome j 
but his themes are more patriotic, notably the "Emancipation" group in 
Washington. Harriet Hosmer is the first feminine name on the American 
list of sculptors. She also settled in Rome, where she completed many works. 
William Henry Rinehart and Randolph Rogers were both of the idealist 



606 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

school, the latter completing Crawford's unfinished Washington monument 
at Richmond. The name of Rogers is more commonly connected with the 
familiar little statuette groups of every-day domestic scenes so appealing to 
the popular taste. The sculptor John Rogers, of Massachusetts, has also 
made a few large works, among them the equestrian statue of General Rey- 
nolds, before the City Hall, Philadelphia. Henry Kirke Browne (1814-1886) 
made a number of equestrian statues of note, one of Washington being the 
first bronze actually cast in America. His figure of General Scott was cast 
from captured cannon, relics of the Mexican war. His pupils, Larkin Meade 
and J. Q. A. Ward, both attained high places, the latter being especially 
prominent in the progress of American sculpture through such works as his 
colossal Washington for the New York Treasury Building, and his " Indian 
Hunter," "Pilgrim," and ■" Shakespeare," in Central Park. 

After the middle of the century, French art became emotional and dra- 
matic, the notorious " Dance " for the Paris Opera House, by J. B. Carpeaux, 
being one of the first of the new utterances. Paul Dubois was less aston- 
ishing in manner, and Henri Chapu was still more restrained, although far 
more vital than the old conventional school. The name of Frederic Au^uste 
Bartholdi should be known to every American by reason of his colossal 
statue of " Liberty Enlightening the World," now standing sentinel in New 
York harbor. This, and his figure of Lafayette offering his services to Wash- 
ington, were presented to America by the French government. Antoine Louis 
Barye (1795-1875) was a sculptor sui generis, a law unto himself of his own 
development ; and though he has many followers, as a sculptor of animals he 
has no rivals. In many branches of art he was proficient, but his best-known 
works are the marvelous studies of animal life, modeled with infinite skill. 

When the great wave of impressionism rose and flooded the land, carrying 
music, literature, and the drama before it, plastic art as well as pictorial was 
caught up too, and whirled into a variet}' of strange forms. Auguste Rodin 
led the new movement in sculpture, his manner being copied with varying 
degrees of success by lesser lights, and like all new movements run to foolish 
extremes by incompetent followers. His heroic group, " The Bourgeois of 
Calais/'" will indicate his style. From extreme realism on one side, with 
portrait statues in the last detail of modern costume, silk hats, kid gloves, 
and in one case holding a cigar, to the vague suggestions of a shapeless. mass 
of marble, out of which protrude unfinished limbs and half-developed heads, 
sculpture has been pushed from side to side, but is settling into a vigorous, 
steady, onward movement, in which the best men of all nations stride along 
together. In the limits of a short article it is impossible to mention all 
deserving names, but a few will serve as types, and the Americans are well 
worthy to head the list. 

Daniel French's grand majestic golden figure of Liberty, towering above 
the Court of Honor, the imperial hostess of the World's Fair at Chicago, 
placed him at once on a pedestal of fame. From the prominence of his 
beautiful Columbian Fountain opposite the golden Goddess, Frederick Mac- 
Monnies became known the land over. His greatest late work is the crowning 
of the soldiers' and sailors' memorial arch for Prospect Park, Brooklyn, with 
a colossal quadriga of Triumph and groups of the army and navy. Augustus 
St. Gaudens, though a cosmopolitan, is truly an American sculptor of the 



ART PROGRESS OF THE CENTURY 



607 



first rank, whose statues of Admiral Farragut in New York, Lincoln in Chi- 
cago, and the sturdy Puritan, Chapin, in Springfield, Mass., are well known. 
Olin Warner is another distinctively American product, although he had the 
advantage of some training in Paris. His work is French in technique but 
not French in spirit, having the native traits of freedom and originality, as 
shown in his figure of William Lloyd Garrison, and later in his relief por- 
traits on the art building at the Columbian Fair. This great occasion offered 
opportunities to American sculptors of which they took full advantage, show- 
ing the high rank to which they were entitled. It made an American of 
Carl Bitter, the talented Austrian, whose decorations on the Pennsylvania 
Railroad Station, Philadelphia, are well known. It added further lustre to 
the name of John J. Boyle, whose heroic " Indian Mother " in Fairmount 









THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT. FAIRMOUNT PARK. 



Park, and seated statue of Benjamin Franklin, are matters of just pride to 
Philadelphians. It gave prominence to such men as Lorado Taft, with his 
graceful work on the Horticultural Building ; Philip Martiny, on the Agri- 
cultural Building ; the great Columbus quadriga, by E. C. Potter and Daniel 
French, whose beautiful relief of " Death Staying the Hand of the Sculptor " 
is a masterpiece. All visitors to the White City will remember the vigorous 
animal studies by Edward Kemys, and the Indian figures of A. C. Proctor. 
The sculptural commissions of the Congressional Library in Washington 
have produced a remarkable collection of works by talented Americans, and 
every great exhibition brings interesting examples from those already named, 
and such others as Herbert Adams, Edwin Elwell, Bessie Potter, with her 
dainty little statuettes, portrait work by Charles Grafly, Catherine Cohen, 
■C. E. Dallin, strange visionary suggestions, in the Rodin manner, by George 
Bonnard, and an array of lesser names too numerous to mention. 



G08 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX" 1 CENTURY 

For this reason, but few of the notable names of modern foreigners can be 
given. However, Hamo Thornycroft, of England, must not be overlooked, 
whose famous " Mower " is much admired ; nor Onslow Ford, more youthful 
and romantic in style. John Henry Foley, of Dublin, has had a pronounced 
effect on English sculpture, being a successful teacher, including among his 
pupils several distinguished women, among them the Princess Louise and 
the Earl of Elgin's granddaughter, Miss Grant. George Tinworth's terra 
cotta reliefs must conclude the list of English works. A few Russians have 
reached eminence, mainly by animal studies. Antocolski, a Jew of Wilna, 
of poorest parentage, has done powerful figure work of a serious, rather 
melancholy sort, the most important being a ,; Christ Bound." What is best 
in modern Italian and German work is practically French, and of the French 
themselves the list is too long to complete. A few must suffice, such as Jean 
Alexandre Falguiere, who aspires, like Carpeaux, to give vitality by means- 
of vigorous action to his figures. Emanuel Fre'miet has worn with some dis- 
tinction the mantle descended from Barye's shoulders. Yidal, another pupil 
of Barve, was blind for twenty years, yet gained two medals for correct 
anatomy in his modeling. Carrier Belleuse's ''Hebe Asleep" is an example 
of the delicate style, and Alfred Boucher shows the other extreme in his 
rendering of sturdy masculine figures, toiling or racing, striving to present 
in sculpture the picture of human struggle for existence, as did Millet in his 
paintings. These materialistic studies represent the fight for the bread and 
breath of life, while the impressionist contortions of the Rodin school try to 
suggest the conflict of emotions, good and bad, and the battle of spiritual and 
physical desires and development. 

III. CERAMICS AND GLASS WORK. 

From time immemorial to the present day men have been fashioning 
shapes of clay, experimenting with different kinds, different degrees of heat, 
and different chemical combinations to form glazes and colorings. The fun- 
damental processes of pottery making have changed but little since prehis- 
toric times, and wall pictures of the days of the Ptolemies show the potter's 
wheel whirling much as it does at present, although, of course, many modern 
inventions have been made to facilitate different forms of work. In the 
famous Sevres factories in France, established under royal patronage and 
still remaining government property, a modern device has rendered possible 
the making of large vases of extremely thin ware. To prevent the delicate 
paste of which these are made from collapsing by its own weight before it 
can harden, the vase or jar is moulded in an air-tight chamber, the mouth 
of the object sealed, and the air exhausted from the chamber, leaving the 
object in a vacuum. The air contained in itself is sufficient to hold up the 
sides until they harden and danger of collapse is over, when it can be fired. 
Attempts were made in vain to equal the delicacy of the Chinese egg-shell 
ware, when, one day an educated Chinese visitor to the factories observed 
the method employed, and exclaimed, " This is the way we make those cups," 
and, taking a mould, he dipped it into the liquid paste, rinsed it around and 
emptied it at once. A thin film like a soap bubble remained in the mould, 
which hardened enough to form the dainty ware the workers had been trying- 
without success to produce; so the Chinese method was at once adopted. 



ART PROGRESS OF THE CENTURY 609 

About the middle of the last century an impetus of development in ceramic 
art appeared all over the continent of Europe and in England. This was 
probably due to the discovery, in different places, of kaolin or the fine clay 
of which porcelain is made, which stimulated the pottery industry and 
caused the establishment of many factories which are still working to-day. 
The Dresden works, founded in 1700, were hidden in an old fortress, and 
their secrets jealously guarded. After about a century they went into decay, 
but in ISO.'! were revived and reestablished in large new buildings of their 
own, where dainty flowered ware is produced, which has again come into 
popular favor. Italian ceramics are apt to be florid and overloaded with 
decoration, that called "majolica" deriving its name from the island of 
Majorea, where it was first made. " Fayence" comes from Faenza, and the 
French form of the name, " faience," has been used to designate porcelain 
in general. The town of Limoges, in France, has been a centre of ceramic 
art since 1773, when a French firm established a factory for the production 
of a peculiarly fine ware, made possible by the superior quality of the kaolin 
found in the neighborhood. In 1839 a lady in New York showed the Havi- 
land firm a cup of delicate ware, asking them to match it for her. It was so 
much finer than anything they had seen that they desired to import some for 
their own business. With this end in view. Mr. J>avid Haviland took the 
cup and went to France trying to find where it had been made. He was 
directed to Limoges and, in the factories there, he tried to have English 
shapes and decorations copied in the exquisite w r are. The conservatism and 
slow methods of the place were not equal to his demands, and he therefore 
established a factory of his own, which, since the middle of the century, has 
been the most important in the town. 

In England, the most celebrated potteries are all over a century old, and 
the ceramic art has been developed to the highest degree both in technical 
and artistic directions. The works of the Doulton firm, who own many pot- 
teries, are particularly rich in color and decoration, those from their factory at 
Lambeth being especially fine. So also are the Coalport wares, celebrated for 
their rich blue color, the Royal Worcester and the Crown Derby. In these 
English factories, and also in those on the Continent, artists of great skill 
are employed as decorators, and in the Wedgwood works the delicate cameo 
figures in white relief on a tinted ground were originated by the famous 
sculptor. John Flaxman. In America, the Trenton potteries turn out a vast 
quantity of wares of varying degrees of artistic excellence, and one factory 
has the secret of an old Irish ware, the Lelleek, of indescribable delicacy, 
like an iridescent sea shell, long thought to be a lost art. The Eookwood 
pottery, of most artistic quality in design and color, is made in Cincinnati, 
and was the invention of a woman who has trained a school of girls as deco- 
rators ; as has also the Tiffany firm in New York for their marvelous glass 
work. An adequate description of the work of this firm would fill a book, as 
they have developed undreamed-of possibilities in the use of glass for deco- 
rative purposes. They have revived forgotten arts of coloring and invented 
new processes of treatment, that give results like fairy work, no two pieces 
being alike. These and many other forms of industrial art products are 
broitght to a high plane of perfection nowadays, although the word " art " is 
grievously abused, being applied to everything salable, from writing paper to 



610 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX' 11 CENTURY 

soap. The great schools and institutions which teach the arts and industries 
combined are doing vast good, however, in improving public taste and teach- 
ing the world to discriminate between true art and false, and their influence 
can already be felt in higher standards of decoration in articles of common 
daily use. 

IV. INDUSTRIAL ARTS. 

Closely following painting comes black and white art in various forms, 
either reproductive or original work, and it is difficult to discriminate be- 
tween fine art and handicraft in the many processes employed. Engraving 
on metal has long been known, and steel was considered an especially valu- 
able method of reproducing paintings until within a generation. Etching is 
another old form of black and white work, and is still popular, though less 
so than formerly. Wood engraving during this century has passed through 
many stages of development, and in the illustrations of books and magazines 
has been brought to a high standing as a fine art. It is still used in many 
ways, but all those processes that require line work by hand are being super- 
seded by the photo-type processes, of which there are many kinds. The 
making of plates or blocks for printing required skilled hand work, and the 
engravers and wood-cutter's were necessarily artists themselves, so that while 
they were copying the work of others they were also producing works of art 
themselves. The plates and prints were, therefore, valuable and expensive, 
and, as modern haste grew more and more to demand cheap quick work, the 
old careful style of working gave way to mechanical methods of greater 
speed. With the development of photography and its application to the 
engraver's art, while a certain individual artistic character in the work was 
lost, the actual copying of painting in all the details of light, shade, and half 
tones has been carried to a high degree of perfection. By what is known 
as photogravure, every tiny brush mark and every different tint of color is 
reproduced with scientific accuracy in black and white. This is accomplished 
by having a photograph of the painting taken on a gelatine film, which is 
suspended in a bath of acid in the line of an electric current. This current, 
playing over a sheet of copper, sets free the molecules of metal that are 
deposited upon the film, and filling all the little inequalities of the surface, 
produce what is practically a cast of the photograph in copper. The plate, 
thus secured, is gone over by hand and finished here and there with engraver's 
tools, and from this prints may be duplicated to any extent. In engraved 
plates the design is cut into the metal, incised lines being either drawn by 
hand with a sharp point, called " dry point " work, or eaten in by acids, the 
remaining surface of the plate being protected from the acid by a greasy film. 
In wood-cutting, the blocks show a reverse process, the design being left 
standing in fine lines, while the remaining surface is cut away, so that a 
wood-cut is in reality a carving in low relief. The modern electrotype pro- 
cesses produce a similar result on a metal block by the action of acid, a 
method capable of most speedy work and therefore in demand among the 
multitude of daily publications illustrating current events. Of course these 
hasty results can scarcely be called fine art, but they are developments of 
artistic industries, calculated to meet certain needs of our busy civilization. 

For more artistic effects, various forms of lithography have given beauti- 
ful results. This valuable process was accidentally discovered in 1796, by a 



ART PROGRESS OF THE CENTURY 



611 



young Bohemian, Aloys Senef elder, of Prague. Desiring to write a list, 
and having no paper, he scrawled on a fine stone fioor tile a few words, and 
later on, coming to remove them, he bethought him of an experiment with 
acid on the stone. This he tried, finding the stone eaten away all around his 
writing, leaving that raised in sufficient relief to print from, the lettering- 
being done with a greasy writing substance that repelled the acid. Later 
experiments proved that the eating away of the stone was not necessary if 
the design were made with an oily material and the rest of the surface kept 
moist with a weak solution of acid. A greasy printing ink being applied 
would stick only to the oily design and not to the acidulated surface, which 
process made possible the printing from flat stones, which were not so liable 




PHOTOGRAPHIC VIEW OF NEW YORK CITY AND HUDSON RIVER, TAKEN FROM 
26TH STORY OF PARK ROW BUILDING. 



to wear out as the relief designs. Senefelder died in 1824, living long 
enough to see his invention in use throughout the world, although of course 
he could not know the improvements that photography would bring. On the 
centennial anniversary of this great discovery in 1896, exhibitions of litho- 
graphic works were held in London and Paris, and the possibilities and devel- 
opments shown. Mr. James McNeill Whistler has made many very inter- 
esting experiments with it, as have also Mr. Joseph Pennell and Mr. Hubert 
Herkomer. The latter has made innumerable experiments and inventions in 
his busy artistic career, and has just recently perfected an improvement on 
lithography which he calls " plate printing," and which has been dubbed by 
the irreverent the " Herkotype " process. It is simply painting in a peculiar 
oily ink on a metal plate, which, while the ink is moist, is dusted over with 
a fine powder which adheres to every brush mark on the surface. One ingre- 



612 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 

dient of this powder is a metal that is electrically conductible, and, after the 
excess of powder is brushed off, the plate, with what remains sticking on the 
oily surface, is placed in an electrotype bath. The copper deposited thereon 
by the electric current hardens and forms a negative of the original paint- 
ing, which can be stripped from the plate and used in a printing-press, giving 
an absolutely faithful reproduction of the artist's handiwork. A similar 
process, called " algraphy," has been invented by Mr. Scholz, of Mayence, 
who has developed the possibilities of aluminum for plate work, the advan- 
tage of this material over stone or other metal being its extreme lightness. 
These processes are especially valuable to artists who can work in black and 
white, as their own original conception is perfectly reproduced without the 
possibility of misconception by some copyist, as exists where a painting is 
interpreted by an etcher or engraver. 

Of the new processes or improvements on the old, that have arisen because 
of the discovery of photography, it may be said their name is legion. Photo- 
graphy itself is rapidly being developed into a fine art, and has become one 
of the most important, factors of modern existence. It combines science, art, 
and industry, and is equalty necessary to all these occupations. While it is 
difficult to state what was the first attempt that led to the suggestion of 
photography, it may be supposed the experiments of the Swedish scientist 
Scheele were among the first. He found that the action of the sun's ray 
blackened silver chloride, and others experimenting after him, at the begin- 
ning of the century, had glimmering ideas of the possibility of a new art. 
As has so often happened with the dawning of some great idea, some new 
appreciation of a great natural law, the thought was working in man}' minds, 
and the discovery seemed to be almost simultaneous in several places. As 
early as 1802 Wedgwood published in the " Journal of the Royal Institute " 
an "account of a method of copying paintings on glass and of making pro- 
files by the agency of light on nitrate of silver, with some remarks by Sir 
Humphry Davy." These gentlemen were, however, unable to fix the impres- 
sions they procured, and a Frenchman, De Niepce, seems to have been the 
first to succeed in this direction. In 1826, learning that M. Louis Jacques 
Daguerre was experimenting on the same lines, he conferred with him and 
they formed a partnership. The latter seems to have been the more business- 
like of the two, and the process they evolved became known as the "Da- 
guerreotype." De Niepce died in 1833, and Daguerre continued the part- 
nership with his son Isidore, making many improvements, and becoming 
really the pioneer of modern photography. The extent of advance may be 
calculated from Daguerre's own remark, that " a landscape requires seven or 
eight hours to be photographed, but a single statue or monument, if strongly 
lighted, can be taken in about three hours." Comparing this with the instan- 
taneous camera work of to-day, that gives us the lifelike moving figures of 
the kinetoscope, will illustrate the change wrought in two thirds of a century. 
The earliest portrait work was slow and tedious, the first portrait in New 
York probably being produced by Dr. Draper, the scientist, although the cele- 
brated Professor Morse was vastly interested in the new science or art, and 
advanced its cause in this country. 

Prom the beginning of photographic experiments, the greatest desire has 
been felt to photograph in color, and numberless attempts with more or less 



ART PROGRESS OF THE CENTURY 613 

success have been made, but the processes are mainly slow and very expen- 
sive. A new method of photo-printing in color, however, has recently devel- 
oped very artistic possibilities. This is accomplished by means of three 
plates, one for each of the three primary colors ; the negative having been 
made and the plate prepared for printing in each color, the inks of each 
color are applied separately. One printing produces a red impression, di- 
rectly on this comes a yellow impression, and on top of that is put a blue,- 
and as all gradations of color are composed of various proportions of these 
three primary tints, the "overlaying" of the three inks produces a picture 
containing all the variety of the original subject. A still more recent dis- 
covery makes an impression upon a glass plate that gives all three colors on 
the same plate ; but this process is a secret, and is too new to be classed 
among the successes of industrial art as yet. 

One of the later and more notable uses of photography is found in its 
application to the purposes of astronomy, an evolution in modern science, 
which, although still in its infancy, has already produced wonderful results. 
About the middle of the century photographs of the moon were secured by 
Warren De la Kue and other astronomers, which greatty facilitated studies 
of the earth's satellite, and these were followed by photographs of the sun 
and the sun's corona during eclipse. It was not, however, until Professor 
Henry of the Smithsonian Institute originated the idea of uniting the 
camera with the telescope that the marvelous possibilities of stellar photo- 
graphy were discovered. It is not too much to say that this discovery has 
revolutionized the science of astronomy, extending the field of human obser- 
vation into the realm of the infinite. By the aid of clockwork attachments,, 
the telescope is made to follow the apparent motion of the star to which it 
may be directed, throughout the night, if desired, and the sensitive photo- 
graphic plate is exposed to the action of light during a corresponding period. 
" Each image, however faint, has a comparatively long time on the sensitive* 
surface, and therefore exerts a cumulative action." The result is that stars 
are pictured by the camera which no human eye has ever seen. It is esti- 
mated that the camera has revealed double the number of stars discovered 
by the most powerful telescopes. In 1887, at a convention of astronomers 
held in Paris, it was resolved to photograph the entire skies, with the pur- 
pose of making a new stellar atlas to include the latest discoveries among 
the heavenly hosts. With this object the firmament was charted in squares, 
and each observatory of importance throughout the world was assigned cer- 
tain of these squares to work on. This monumental labor is still going on, 
and it will necessarily be extended well into the first quarter of the- twentieth 
century. 

The epoch-marking paper of Dr. Eontgen, in which he announced the dis- 
covery of the X-ray, was made public in the latter part of 1895. It imme- 
diately attracted the attention of the scientific world, and, since, that date, 
endless successions of experiments have been made with the marvelous ray 
in all civilized countries. The X-ray produces no noticeable effect on the 
retina of the eye, and we therefore acquire knowledge of it through indirect 
agencies. One of these agencies is the photographic plate, on which, under 
certain conditions, the ray acts somewhat in the same manner as does a ray 
of light. It is not a ray of light, in the ordinary sense, as it penetrates 



614: TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 

opaque bodies which light cannot traverse. Just what it is scientists are 
not yet ready to state, but its discoverer defines it as "a longitudinal vibra- 
tion of luminiferous ether." This vibration will traverse many substances 
opaque to light, as wood, paper, vegetable and animal tissues and fabrics, as 
wool, cotton, silk, etc. ; and, if then directed upon a photographic plate, will 
produce an image there. The resulting picture is not of the object traversed 
by the ray, but of any intervening object which it does not pass through. 
As a consequence, the picture is the image, so to speak, of a shadow, and, 
hence has been called a " shadowgraph." To illustrate, if the ray is directed 
through a human body, it will give a " shadowgraph " of the bones, or of a 
bullet or piece of metal, if such foreign substance be encountered on its way. 
Again, the ray will traverse a diamond and cast no shadow, but it will not 
pass through the finest imitation ever made, the " shadowgraph " showing 
the manufactured article. 



THE CENTURY'S ADVANCE IN SURGERY 

By J. MADISON TAYLOR, M.D., and J. H. GIBBON, M.D., 

Surgeon in Pennsylvania and Children's Hospitals. 

At the Dawn of the Century. — In the year 1579 the celebrated French 
surgeon, Ambroise Pare, probably the greatest of his day, in completing his 
work on " Chirurgery," made the following statement, which to us of to-day 
is both amusing and pathetic. He says : " For God is my witness, and all 
good men know, that I have labored fifty years with all care and pains in 
the illustration and amplification of Chirurgery ; and that I have so certainly 
touched the work whereat I aimed that antiquity may seem to have nothing 
wherein it may exceed as beside the glory of invention, nor posterity any- 
thing left but a certain small hope to add some things." This great man had 
scarcely passed away when the practice of surgery of his day was a thing of 
the past, due to the realization of that " certain small hope " which he allowed 
as possible to posterity. Every reader, when he reflects upon the crude sur- 
gery practiced in those days, when the operations were those of necessity and 
not election, — that is, were done for injuries and not for disease, done to relieve 
and not to cure ; when he remembers that not only antiseptics but also anaes- 
thetics were unknown, must be filled with sympathy for this old gentleman, 
and wonder what he would think now were he to see what progress posterity 
has made and is still making. 

It is not our purpose, however, to carry our researches so far back as Parens 
time, but to begin with our own century and bring before the reader the ad- 
vances in surgery since the day of our grandfathers. 

In the beginning of this century surgery was practiced by many great men, 
men who did not enjoy the self-satisfaction of their predecessor, Pare, but 
who accomplished much by constant endeavor and faithful application to ad- 
vance this art and science. They, too, realized manifold "hopes," and their 
children and grandchildren have moved on, and to-day are still pressing forward 
in the line of invention and discovery. But to us, the art of an hundred years 
ago appears widely different from that of our day. Anaesthesia had not then 
been discovered, no germ theory had been evolved, and, consequently, no 
such thing as antiseptic or aseptic surgery was known. The abdomen was 
opened for disease only, and rarely ; and brain surgery consisted solely in tre- 
panning for fractures of the skull. Surgery was not regarded as a specialty, 
but every surgeon was also an obstetrician and a practitioner of general medi- 
cine. Outside of the treatment of broken bones, dislocations, gunshot wounds 
and injuries, the surgeon at that time operated for strangulated hernia, for 
stone in the bladder — "cutting for stone," as it was called ; for cataract and 
for cancer. Dentistry was just beginning to be taken up as a specialty, and 
all medical men extracted teeth, and many filled their cavities. Ophthalmic 
surgery consisted largely in operations for cataract, and was done by the gen- 
eral surgeon. One department of the surgeon's education at this time was 
well attended to, and that was his anatomic knowledge. Our bodies were the 



616 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

same then as now ; and although the surgeon dared not trespass in anatomical 
fields which are familiar ground to the student of to-day, he did study the 
body after death, and was quite as well informed regarding the gross anatomy 
of the human body as the surgeon of to-day ; and, had anaesthesia been known 
to him, he would probably have accomplished nearly all that was done during 
the middle of the century by his successors. 

During the first quarter of the century no great advance was made in 
surgery, that is, nothing revolutionizing ; but many minds and hands were 
at work perfecting old methods of operation and devising new ones. They 
had to trust to Avhiskey and opium to control the pain of the patient, and 
consequently operations requiring much time in their performance were 
avoided when possible, and, when necessary, had to be performed with such 
rapidity that the essential object aimed at was often missed. The patient 
was given a large dose of laudanum and a huge drink of whiskey or brandy, 
and was then held or tied on the table while the surgeon proceeded with 
his work. One can readily understand the torturing pain the poor patient 
had to endure, and the hurried and often unsatisfactory operation which 
the surgeon had to perforin. The endurance of pain was not the worst 
part of the patient's lot, for afterward he ran the greatest risk of blood- 
poisoning and gangrene, which were common complications in those days. 
It was the rarest thing for even the simplest operation wounds to heal by 
" primary union," as it was called, — that is. without the formation of pus. 
Every wounded surface was expected to go through a certain amount of 
suppuration. Many patients lost their lives from compound fractures of 
their bones ; and a compound fracture, that is, where there was a wound con- 
necting the seat of fracture with the skin, usually meant many months in 
bed, and very often the loss of the limb. 

Excepting for the purposes of removing a foetus from the womb (the so- 
called Caesarian operation, because Caesar was from " his mother's womb un- 
timely ripped"), the abdominal cavity was practically never opened, and when 
it was the patient nearly always died. The operation for the radical cure of 
hernia was seldom resorted to, excepting when strangulation of the intestine 
necessitated operative interference to save the patient's life. During the 
latter part of the eighteenth century the quacks, calling themselves " rupture 
cutters," were not scarce ; but the great mortality of their practice produced 
a wholesome fear among the people. The operation was so often fatal that 
most of the best surgeons would only perform it under unusually urgent 
circumstances. What caused the deaths was peritonitis, or gangrene of the 
intestine, and not the method of operating ; for at this time nearly every 
method of operating had been devised that was in vogue fifty years later. 

Bone surgery, the treatment of fractures, dislocations, and diseases of 
the bones, was greatly improved in the first half of the century, this sub- 
ject receiving more attention at the hands of surgical writers than any 
other. 

Anesthesia. — Anaesthesia may, certainly from the patient's point of 
view, be looked upon as the greatest advancement ever made in surgery. It 
was great not only for the reason that it gave the patient absolute uncon- 
sciousness during the time of the operation, but because it enabled the surgeon 
to work with greater exactness and less hurry. The conception of the anaes- 



THE CENTURY'S ADVANCE IN SURGERY 



617 



thetic state did not, however, come into being for the first time in our cen- 
tury, for, like most great ideas, it agitated the minds of medical and scien- 
tific men for centuries. Gross tells us that Theodoric, in the thirteenth 
century, recommended the inhalation of a certain combination of opium, 
hemlock, and other vegetable derivatives for the purpose of producing sleep, 
and that in India similar combinations were for centuries in use. It is need- 
less, however, to say that the effect produced was nothing like that following 
the use of nitrous oxide, " laughing gas," ether, or chloroform, and that their 
use never became general. Toward the close of the last century Sir Hum- 
phry Davy and others performed repeated experiments with nitrous oxide 
gas, but finally gave up in despair. In the early part of our own century sev- 




SURGICAL OPERATING ROOM, HOWARD HOSPITAL, PHILADELPHIA, PA. 



eral methods of producing insensibility to pain were recommended, such as 
pressure on nerves and bleeding to the degree of producing unconsciousness, 
but none of them was ever sufficiently successful to render their adoption gen- 
eral ; and it remained for a New England dentist, Dr. Horace Wells, in 1844 ; 
to first use satisfactorily upon himself and his patients the complete state of 
unconsciousness produced by nitrous oxide gas. This poor man, however, 
failed signally when he endeavored to demonstrate its powers before a body 
of medical men, and was subjected to the most unwarranted ridicule. How- 
ever, a pupil of this man, another dentist, named Morton, two years later, 
experimented with ether, and finally proved upon himself and on patients 
the wonderful power of the vapor. He exhibited his discovery at the Massa- 
chusetts General Hospital at l'>oston, where Dr. Warren performed an opera- 



618 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX' H CENTURY 

tion upon a patient etherized by Dr. Morton. The fame of this man and his 
great discovery spread rapidly over the continent and into the Eastern Hem- 
isphere, and in 1847 Sir James Y. Simpson in Edinburgh discovered the 
anaesthetic powers of chloroform. These two agents, ether and chloroform, 
have existed as rivals for professional favor for nearly half a century, one 
being more popular and more generally used in one country and the other in 
another. There is, however, a field for the use of both, the operator choos- 
ing the anaesthetic to suit the individual case. In our own country ether is 
more generally used in the North and East and chloroform in the South and 
West. Chloroform has had more deaths attributed to its use, but in many 
cases is a much safer anaesthetic than ether. It is most amusing to observe 
the attitude of the so-called conservative surgeon toward the use of anaes- 
thetics soon after their discovery ; this is particularly true of their employ- 
ment in obstetric practice, many eminent obstetricians maintaining that the 
parturient woman was intended to suffer, and referring triumphantly to the 
Bible for authority. It is, however, needless to say that although many men 
were at first uneasy in the use of these new-found agents, those who did not 
take advantage of their wonderful powers found themselves rapidly becom- 
ing out of date and deserted by their patients, who preferred unconsciousness 
to the older method of using opium and whiskey. 

Notwithstanding the great step made by the introduction of ether and 
chloroform, the medical man is to-day still dissatisfied and is continually en- 
deavoring to discover some agent or combination of agents which will pro- 
duce insensibility to pain without unconsciousness and without the slight 
danger and the uncomfortable after effects of chloroform and ether. An 
ideal anaesthetic then must be a local anaesthetic, one that will render the 
field of operation insensible and be without the slightest danger to the pa- 
tient. 

Local Anaesthesia. — At the beginning of our century freezing with ice 
alone, or with ice and salt, was the only method employed for producing 
local insensibility. Freezing as a local anaesthetic was, however, not exten- 
sively used until fifty years later, when Dr. Richardson of London showed 
the anaesthetic effect of spraying the surface of the tissues with ether. Dur- 
ing the late sixties this method of freezing became quite popular for produ- 
cing local anaesthesia for small operations such as extraction of teeth, remov- 
ing nails, opening abscesses, etc., and occasionally was employed for more 
protracted operations, Caesarian section having been performed a number of 
times by the aid of this agent. The rhigolene spray was found later to be 
more satisfactory than ether in many respects, and the two together w r ere 
frequently used. 

Another freezing agent which is now used very extensively and has en- 
tirely supplanted those just mentioned is the chloride of ethyl. This, when 
applied to the dry skin, produces in a few seconds complete freezing, and 
renders the surface comparatively painless for many of the minor surgical 
operations. 

The properties of cocaine as a local anaesthetic were known thirty years 
ago, but it was not until 1884 that Dr. Kohler of Germany demonstrated its 
practical applicability. To-day most of the operations on the eye, nose, and 
throat are performed under the pain prevention afforded by this drug, and in 



THE CENTURY'S ADVANCE IN SURGERY 619 

general surgery it has an extensive field, being found satisfactory where 
freezing is inapplicable or general anaesthesia not desired, as, for instance, in 
removing small tumors, splinters, ingrowing nails, etc. In the eye, nose, and 
throat it is applied simply in solution to the mucous membrane, but where 
anaesthesia of the skin is desired, it is necessary to inject it under the skin 
with a hypodermic syringe. When used in strong solutions this remedy is 
dangerous, and it has lately been shown that weaker solutions when used in 
larger quantities are just as satisfactory and less dangerous. 

A recent substitute for cocaine is eucaine ; but, although less dangerous, it 
is less satisfactory and not harmless to the tissues themselves. 

Antiseptic and Aseptic Surgery. — Excepting the introduction of anaes- 
thesia, no greater step has ever been made in surgery than that which was 
brought into use by the antiseptic and aseptic method of treating wounds. 
It is now about thirty years since Sir Joseph Lister, believing in the so- 
called " germ theory," evolved by Pasteur. Yirchow, and others, advocated 
the use of agents which were destructive to germ life in the treatment of 
wounds. At first the great antiseptic, and the one used most gene rail}' by 
Lister, was carbolic acid, which was applied to the wound in solution, and 
used as a spray during the performance of operations, to protect the wound 
from infection by germs in the atmosphere. It was not long, however, be- 
fore it was discovered that the danger lay not in the atmosphere but in the 
skin of the patient and in the hands of the surgeon and in the condition of 
his instruments and dressings ; and to these sources attention was given with 
results known to us all. Other antiseptics, such as bichloride of mercury 
and boric acid, afterward came into use, and within the past ten years the 
first of these two has largely supplanted carbolic acid, and is the one reliable 
and practical destroyer of germs. The antiseptic treatment of wounds was 
probably not in full swing until about 1885-1890, and was quickly followed 
by the more recent aseptic method. These two can, however, never be suc- 
cessfully separate, as the latter is dependent entirely upon the former ; that 
is. in order to render the field of operation and the hands of the surgeon 
aseptic, the antiseptics must be used. Asepsis means without poisonous 
germs, and, as applied to surgical treatment, it is essential that, after the 
instruments, the dressings, the patient's skin, the surgeon's and his assistants' 
hands have been thoroughly cleaned with soap and water and rendered free 
from germs, there be use of antiseptic solutions in the wound or on the dress- 
sings. This has been a great step forward, this discovery that it was in the 
skin that the germs lurked, and that soap and water and a scrubbing brush 
were as necessary as antiseptics. Few surgeons to-day employ antiseptic 
solutions in wounds unless the wound itself is already infected, when it 
becomes necessary. In wounds which are clean and made by the surgeon 
under aseptic conditions, no antiseptic drug is required which may indeed be 
actually harmful, for these chemicals which destroy germs are not altogether 
harmless to healthy tissue, particularly when used in strong solution. 

The discovery of anaesthesia and the promulgation of the germ theory of 
inflammation, together with the subsequent perfection of the means of de- 
stroying microbes, all within the memory of many now living, have revolu- 
tionized surgery to such an extent that the surgeon reaches fearlessly into 
regions which before were impracticable, and undertakes operations which 



620 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 

were never even dreamed of a generation ago. One can readily imagine that 
no surgeon would care to undertake, and no patient would endure, the agony 
of an operation lasting for several hours without an anaesthetic ; and that it 
must have been only an immediate and certain danger of death that com- 
pelled a surgeon, in pre-antiseptic days, to open an abdomen or brain when 
he realized the great probability of subsequent inflammation and death. 

Let us look at some of the individual advances of surgery since the intro- 
duction of anaesthesia and of the use of germ-destroying agents, considering- 
first, simple fractures. 

Of Simple Fractukes. — Anaesthesia was the means of permitting sur- 
geons to " set" fractures in a satisfactory manner and without pain ; and the 
use of antiseptics has prevented many of these fractures from becoming com- 
pound fractures. Lately there has been a change in the general treatment of 
fractures which is proving a great advancement. Formerly it was the cus- 
tom to keep not only the broken bone itself perfectly quiet on a splint until 
union had taken place, but also to immobilize all the neighboring structures, 
joints, muscles, and tendons. This meant that when the limb was taken off 
the splint, not only would the bone be " solid," but there was also a tendency 
to fixation of the muscles and joints, so that it took the patient as long to get 
back the use of the limb as it did to unite the broken bone. This is now 
obviated in many fractures by beginning both the passive and active motion 
of the neighboring muscles and joints at a much earlier period than hereto- 
fore ; in fact, in many fractures, such as those near the wrist, by never allow- 
ing these adjacent structures to get stiff at all, but keeping up the passive 
motion (while the fragments are held firmly together) from the very first 
dressing. In other more complicated and serious fractures where motion is 
contra-indicated, the use of carefully applied massage prevents largely the 
stiffness and the wasting of the muscles which results from long confinement 
on splints. 

Compound Fractures. — In pre-antiseptic days compound fractures were 
one of the greatest causes of the amputation of limbs ; and yet, to-day, these 
same breaks, which twenty-five years ago would have cost the patient his 
limb, are, by means of antiseptics, rendered aseptic and converted into a sim- 
ple fracture by the closing of the wound, and the part is not only saved but 
fully restored to function. 

Bone Diseases. — Diseases of the bones, as inflammation, caries, and necro- 
sis, are now dealt with very differently from of old. The diseased structures 
are now thoroughly removed; and the inflammation which at one time kept 
the patient in misery and danger for a long time is subdued from the start. 

Osteotomy. — This term, which means the division of a bone, is generally 
applied to the correction of deformities, such as bow-legs. This operation 
fifty years ago was not frequently resorted to, and then only in severe cases, 
the milder ones being left alone or treated with braces, which at best could 
do little more than prevent increase in deformity. When the operation was 
performed on the bone, it was then divided, usually with a saw. The opera- 
tion nowadays for this condition is what is called subcutaneous osteotomy y 
that is, the wound made is only as large as the chisel used for severing the 
bone, about one half inch, and owing to our knowledge of microbes and our 
means of destroying them and preventing their ravages, hundreds of legs- 



622 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 

are made straight every year which a generation ago could not have been 
safely touched. 

Amputations. — The first successful amputation at the hip joint, for either 
injury or disease, in the United States, was done in 180G by Dr. Brasheur ; 
the next was not accomplished until 1824. As late as 1882, the great Ameri- 
can surgeon, Gross, wrote in his " System of Surgery : " " To no operation 
that can be performed on the human body is the oft-repeated maxim, ' Ad ex- 
tremos morbus extrema vemedia,' more justly applicable than to amputation at 
the hip joint. The operation may become necessary both on account of 
disease and accident ; but it is of so formidable a nature and so fraught with 
danger, that it should never be undertaken unless the patient has no other 
chance of escape. The great risk which attends it is chiefly due to shock, 
loss of blood, suppuration, erysipelas, and pyaemia. . . . Under highly favor- 
able circumstances, much of the enormous wound may unite by the first in- 
tention ; but, in general, more or less suppuration takes place, and in some 
instances the discharge is so copious as to lead to fatal exhaustion. The 
greatest danger of all, however, is the occurrence of pyaemia, or secondary 
abscess, especially in amputations at the hip joint in consequence of injury, 
as a compound fracture or a gunshot wound." This gives the attitude of the 
profession toward this operation a little more than fifteen years ago, and the 
dangers which attended its performance. Let us add that the mortality at 
this time may be expressed in the following figures. (Dr. F. C. Sheppard 
prepared these statistics for Dr. Ashhurst.) Of 613 cases in which the 
results are known, " 237 occurred in army practice, of which 30 recovered 
and 207, or 87.3 per cent died ; 71 were performed in civil life for injury, 
with the result of 47 deaths, or a mortality of 66.1 per cent ; 261 were prac- 
ticed for disease, with 105 deaths, or a mortality rate of 40.2 per cent; and 
of 44 amputations for unknown causes 34, or 77.2 per cent were fatal." 
. In 1890, Dr. John A. Wyeth of New York introduced his ''bloodless 
method " of amputation at the hip joint, and he recently reports 69 opera- 
tions performed after this manner by himself and others, in which there 
were 11 deaths, 5 of which occurred in cases of extreme injury, where 
the patients had lost a large amount of blood and vigor before operation. 
In 40 cases the operation was done for malignant growth, and 4 deaths 
occurred, 10 per cent. In 22 the amputation was made for inflammatory 
disease of the bone, and 3 died, 13.6 per cent. One has but to contrast these 
statistics to understand wdiat antiseptic methods and recent improvements in 
the control of hemorrhage have done to lessen the mortality of amputations. 
The still more recent use of salt solution injected into the circulation of 
patients suffering from profuse hemorrhage has lately been the means of sav- 
ing many lives which would have otherwise succumbed to the loss of blood 
and the shock subsequent to injury and operation. As illustrating the con- 
trast between the septic and antiseptic methods, let us consider the surgery 
of our Civil War and compare with that of to-day, and we shall see the enor- 
mous differences in methods, and particularly in economy of limbs and organs 
as well as mortality. 

Hemorrhage. — The arrest and control of hemorrhage has greatly im- 
proved within the past twenty-five years. The making of an aseptic wound 
•does away largely with the much dreaded secondary hemorrhage of a genera- 



THE CENTURY'S ADVANCE IN SURGERY 623 

tion ago, by preventing suppuration, which is usually the cause of secondary 
hemorrhage. The clumsy and complicated apparatus of former days for con- 
trolling hemorrhage has been superseded by the use of the Esmarch rubber 
tourniquet, the neat hemostatic forceps, and the sterile animal ligature. No 
surgeon thinks to-day of applying a silk ligature to a blood vessel and allow- 
ing it to hang out of the wound until it separates, so that in case of second- 
ary bleeding he could readily find the vessel ; but he applies an absorbable 
ligature, usually of catgut, which is sterile, and which is entirely absorbed 
by the tissues after it has done its work. Much suffering has been saved 
patients by the introduction of absorbable materials for ligation of vessels 
and sewing of wounds. Formerly one of the great dreads of wounds was the 
"taking out of the stitches." To-day where the wounds are not inflamed 
this is little complained of, and where the animal suture is used there is no 
discomfort whatever. Many means have, during the past century, been em- 
ployed for the resuscitation of patients suffering from profuse hemorrhage 
and shock. The idea of injecting into the veins of the patient thus affected 
blood from another person or from an animal is not new, and has at times 
been quite successful. The most generally used method was to draw the 
blood from a healthy person or animal and inject it into the vein of the 
patient with a syringe : however, so-called " direct transfusion " was also 
employed, and consisted in pumping the blood direct from the vein of the 
healthy individual into that of the patient. Other materials than blood have 
been injected into the blood vessels of persons suffering from great loss of 
blood, notably milk. All of these methods have been put upon the shelf, 
never to be called into use again. The ingenuity of the nineteenth century 
suggested the substitution of a solution of common salt for blood and, to-day, 
the intra-venous injection of normal salt solution saves hundreds of lives. 
The solution is made to resemble as closely as possible the liquid portion of 
the human blood (the liquor sanr/uinis), especially as to specific gravity; and 
as it is always sterilized by boiling before being used, it is free from all the 
dangers which accompany the transfusion of one person's blood into another. 
No well-appointed operating room is without its transfusion apparatus and its 
salt solution ready for use. 

Wounds. — Reference to the remarks on asepsis and antisepsis will show 
the reader that the treatment of wounds has undergone a complete change in 
the past quarter of a century ; but probably the modern treatment of gun- 
shot wounds illustrates this better than anything else. Until 1885, only six 
cases were recorded where the abdominal cavity was opened for gunshot 
wounds, but since that time hundreds of cases have been treated in this way 
every year. The injuries were formerly considered almost certainly fatal, 
and if the intestine was injured the patient assuredly died. Now the abdo- 
men is opened, hemorrhage controlled, wounds — often to the number of six or 
eight or even thirty or more — of the intestines closed, or an injured section 
of the intestines removed and the abdominal cavity cleansed and closed, with 
many favorable terminations to make the operation not only a justifiable 
one, but one of necessity and safety. There is no comparison with the pre- 
sent-day results of gunshot wounds of either abdomen or chest and those of 
a generation ago. It is the duty of the surgeon, in case of gunshot wound 
of abdomen, to open, explore, and repair, whereas formerly it was considered 
40 



024 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

the part of wisdom to leave the patient without radical treatment and only to 
make him comfortable with opiates. Thus cases of damage to the intestines 
and viscera did occasionally recover in pre-antiseptic days, but it was the 
rarest occurrence. 

What has been said of gunshot wounds applies also to stab wounds of the 
chest and abdomen. 

The Alimentary Canal. — Probably the surgery of no portion of the 
body, unless it be the brain, has been so much improved during the past fif- 
teen years as that of the alimentary canal. The esophagus or gullet is now 
opened with impunity for both disease and injury. This organ is not only 
approachable through the neck but also through the back part of the chest, 
by resection of the ribs ; and the latter operation is frequently made neces- 
sary by the lodgment of foreign bodies, — buttons, false teeth, etc. — so low 
down in the esophagus that they cannot be reached through the mouth or 
through an opening made in the neck. 

The Stomach. — This organ, which was formerly a forbidden field to the 
surgeon, is now subjected to the most varied surgical operations, from simple 
opening for the purpose of removing a foreign body or establishing a fistu- 
lous tract to the resection of a portion of it or to its complete resection, as 
has been successfully accomplished several times within the past year or two 
for malignant disease. The removal of the smaller end of the stomach for 
cancer is now a frequent operation. During the war of the rebellion there 
were sixty-four cases of wounds of the stomach, and only one recovered. In 
over six hundred and fifty cases of wounds of the intestines there were re- 
corded only five cases of recovery from wounds of the small and fifty-nine 
from wounds of the large intestine. 

The Intestinal Tract. — What has been said of the stomach applies 
also to this portion of the alimentary canal. No surgeon can nowadays call 
himself such if he is incapable of removing a diseased portion of intestine, 
it may be only a few inches or several feet, and bringing the dividing ends 
of remaining intestine into such apposition that healing takes place and the 
function is restored. Until recentl}-, when the means of anastomosing the 
intestinal canal were perfected, it was the custom of the surgeon to bring 
the severed ends of the intestines into the abdominal incision and suture 
them there, establishing in this way an artificial anus with all its accompa- 
nying discomforts. This was certainly better than allowing the patient to 
perish from his disease, but how infinitely preferable is the present method 
of bringing the healthy cut ends of the intestine into apposition and reestab- 
lishing the calibre. It is this operation which has so much reduced the 
mortality of intra-abdominal injuries, gunshot wounds, stabs, etc., and has 
made hundreds of sufferers from intestinal cancer either well again or com- 
fortable for years. The perfection of the operation of joining one part of 
the alimentary caual to another has been due largely to the ingenuity and 
perseverance of American surgeons, who have devoted years to experimenta- 
tion and practice upon the cadaver and upon animals. 

The Kidneys. — The kidney has not been behind the other organs of the 
body in reaping the benefits of modern surgery. The first case of removal 
of the kidney was done in 1869 by Simon, and was successful. It was done 
only after a number of dogs were operated on successfully to demonstrate 



THE CENTURY'S ADVANCE IN SURGERY 625 

that life and health are compatible with only one kidney. Since this time 
the removal of a kidney for disease or injury, when its fellow of the oppo- 
site side is healthy and performing its function, has been looked upon as an 
entirely justifiable operation. The surgery of this organ has lately so far 
advanced, however, that many kidneys are now treated by more curative 
operations. In 1880 the first operation was done for the removal of a stone 
from the kidney, an operation which now nearly every surgeon of much 
experience has performed. The operation for the fixation of a floating kid- 
ney, which is now so common, was first done in 1881. Now, since Simon's, 
bold experiment the lives of between two thousand and three thousand per- 
sons have been thus saved who had otherwise certainly died. 

The Bladder. — For generations the bladder has been considered a legiti- 
mate field for surgery, but modern methods and "technique have greatly 
extended the domain. One of the greatest advances in bladder surgery has 
been the crushing of stone and its immediate removal. Until 1825 the treat- 
ment of all stones in the bladder was their removal through an incision made 
in the organ. At that time Civiale first performed the operation of passing 
a bladed instrument into the bladder and crushing the stone, then allowing 
the patient to pass it subsequently at urination. The operation became quite 
popular with certain surgeons as early as the middle of the century. The 
cutting operation has, however, never been entirely put aside, and even to-day 
it is, in many cases, the best and only procedure. In 1878 Bigelow, of Bos- 
ton, devised the method which is now universally used, of crushing the stone 
and washing it out at once through a silver tube. This was a great stride 
ahead of the old method. 

One of the great difficulties in deciding upon the removal of a kidney has 
been the trouble of finding out whether the other kidney is doing its work, 
and this Kelly, of Johns Hopkins University, has done much to overcome in 
devising his method of examining by looking at the openings of the tubes of 
the kidneys where they empty into the bladder. If the kidney is performing 
its function the urine will be seen flowing from its tube into the bladder. 

Hernia or Bupture. — Probably the treatment of no condition has re- 
ceived more consideration from the surgeon of the nineteenth century than 
that of rupture, and it was not until 1891 that an operation was devised, 
simultaneously by an Italian and an American surgeon, which has proved for 
itself all that its originators claimed. Hundreds of operative methods have 
been brought forward for the cure of this troublesome and dangerous con- 
dition ; but, until the operations of Halstead and Bossini were brought for- 
ward, little prospect of an absolute cure could be promised a patient, and the 
conservative surgeon would only undertake to operate upon very troublesome 
cases such as could not be controlled by a truss. Now nearly every case 
of hernia may be looked upon as curable by an operation. 

Operative Gynaecology. — The operative treatment of the disease of the 
female generative organs has been revolutionized in our century, and its 
revolution has been largely due to American surgeons. The first ovariotomy 
ever performed was done in Kentucky, by Dr. Ephraim McDowell, in 1809. 
In the fifties, Marion Sims won great renown for himself and his country by 
his wonderful ingenuity and boldness in this line of work. The greatest 
advance here, as in all departments of surgery, has been made since the 



626 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

introduction of antiseptic and aseptic principles. To-day there is no disease 
or condition which, if seen early enough, cannot be cured, or essentially 
relieved at the hands of an expert abdominal surgeon. Thousands of women 
are now saved every year by these means who formerly would have certainly 
died or remained hopeless invalids. 

Appendicitis. — This condition must seem to the ordinary reader to be 
either a new disease or one much more prevalent than in days gone by, but 
it is not the case. The cause of this appearance is the fact that in former 
times the condition was not recognized in its incipiency, and the exact cause 
of the trouble was unknown. The condition then advanced until it was 
called typhlitis, peritonitis, and obstruction of the bowels, etc., all of which 
would to-day occur if the conditions were not recognized early and treatment 
immediately instituted before the inflammation and infection extended from 
the appendix to neighboring tissues. 

Brain Surgery. — This branch of surgery is practically a triumph of 
recent years. Formerly the brain was never interfered with except for in- 
jury (traumatic), and even then nothing was done excepting for the removal 
of pressure, as from a piece of depressed bone, and the institution of drain- 
age. To-day the skull is opened for epilepsy; abscesses of the brain are 
opened and drained successfully, and tumors of the brain are removed, thus not 
only in numberless instances saving life but — what is equally important — 
saving the usefulness of the life and mind. The first actual successes in this 
line are recorded by Bennett and Godlee in 1884, who localized and operated 
on and ultimately found a tumor. The patient died, but the bold beginning 
was followed by a number of other surgeons, till this new region for explora- 
tion, hitherto untouched, has become a fertile ground for successful efforts. 
Abscess of the brain, until twenty years ago, was almost invariably fatal. 
MacEwen in 1879 located an abscess of the brain and begged to be allowed 
to operate, but was refused by the family of the patient. After the death of 
the patient he operated precisely as he would have done in life, evacuated 
the pus and demonstrated that had he been permitted to do so he could have 
saved life. 

Where the cranium is wounded surgeons nowadays will not hesitate to 
open the skull, secure the bleeding vessels, remove clots, and thus many lives 
are saved. Even comparatively slight injuries to the skull, where the brain 
is damaged, involve oftentimes destruction to the arteries and blood is 
effused, producing such destructive pressure as causes very serious symp- 
toms or even death. In other instances, the results of a blow or a fall with- 
out injuring the skull may cause profound damage and subsequent hemor- 
rhage. In all these cases operative interference, now extremely safe and 
easy, may readily save life. Gunshot wounds of the brain are now only 
occasionally fatal, provided opportunity offers for prompt and clean operative 
work. Even where the ball has traversed the entire length of the cerebrum, 
recovery has followed operation. The results of brain surgery in relieving 
certain forms of epilepsy are occasionally most brilliant and frequently much 
relief is afforded. Where the epilepsy is of the character known as focal, 
and where there is evidence of irritation of the brain, due to a local pressure, 
whether of the cranial walls or of some new growth within the brain tissue, 
the removal of these sources of irritation has in many reported instances 



THE CENTURY'S ADVANCE IN SURGERY 627 

been most satisfactory. Again, certain case,s of protracted headache, so 
severe as to render life insupportable, have been cured by trepanning the 
skull. Certain forms of insanity have been modified and relieved where this 
had followed upon brain injuries. It is of great interest to reflect upon the 
methods by which students of brain disease are enabled to determine so 
exactly the location of tumors, abscesses, hemorrhages, clots, scars, and other 
alterations of tissue giving rise to epilepsy and brain disorders, and which 
afford no indication of the diseased locality by any changed condition of the 
surface. In dealing with other parts of the body, if the precise locality of 
the part to be operated on cannot be at first determined, there is no hesita- 
tion in the minds of the surgeons in cutting down upon, and searching for, 
that which he proposes to remove. In dealing with so delicate an organ as 
the brain, however, this cannot be permitted; for a variation of the very 
smallest dimension will sometimes change the manipulations from those of 
perfect safety to the most fatal results. Our knowledge of the location of 
the functions of the brain and the areas from whence arise governing influ- 
ences has been derived almost solely from experiments upon living animals. 
Among the names of the great pioneers in this direction must be mentioned 
those of Ferrier and Horseley, of England; Fritsch, Hitzig, and Goltz, of 
German} 7 . The researches which have thus opened up a new realm of oper- 
ative possibility are among the very greatest triumphs in our means of sav- 
ing life and affording opportunity for relief of the most serious disablements 
known to modern times. 

For illustration of how these studies are pursued, it may be of interest to 
review the method used by Horseley. 

The brain of a. monkey having been exposed at the part to be investigated, 
the poles of a battery are applied over squares one twelfth of an inch in 
diameter, and all the various movements which occur (if any) are minutely 
studied. One square having been studied, the next is stimulated, and the 
results are again noted, and so on from square to square. These movements 
are then tabulated. For example, all those adjacent squares which, when 
stimulated, produce movements of the thumb are called the region for repre- 
sentation of the thumb, or "the thumb centre;" and to all those squares 
which produce movements of the hand, the elbow, the shoulder, or the face, 
etc., are given corresponding names. In this way the brain has been mapped 
out, region by region, and the same minute, patient study given to each. 

These animals are etherized so that they do not suffer the least pain. 
Such operations, with few exceptions, even without ether, are not painful. 
The brain itself can be handled, compressed, cut, or torn without the least 
pain. A number of cases have already been reported in which a consider- 
able portion of the human brain has been removed by operation, and the 
patients have been about their ordinary avocations within a week or two. 

Studying in this way the brain in the lower animals, it is now possible to 
get a very fair knowledge of the localization of many of its functions in man. 

Moreover, portions of the body can be entirely severed, and, if suitably 
preserved, can be replaced, and they will adhere and grow as if nothing had 
happened. When a wound is slow in healing, we now take bits of skin, 
either from the patient's own body or provided by the willing family or 
friends, or even from frogs, and " graft " them on the surface of the wound. 



628 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

They usually adhere, and as enlargement takes place at their margins, they 
coalesce by one half the time required for healing. Even a large disk of 
bone, one or two inches in diameter, when removed from the skull, can be so 
saved and utilized. It is placed in a vessel filled with a warm antiseptic 
solution, which is again placed in a basin of warm water, and it is the duty 
of a special assistant to see that the thermometer in this basin shall always 
mark 100° to 105° Fahr. The bone may be separated from the skull so long 
as one or two hours, but if properly. cared for can be replaced, and will grow 
fast and fulfill its accustomed but interrupted duty of protecting the brain. 

Rontgen Rays. — One of the most recent advances in the art of surgery 
is the discovery and use of the X-rays. In December, 1895, Professor Ront- 
gen, of Wiirzburg, announced his discovery, and since then its utility has 
continually increased, until to-day no large hospital or properly equipped 




X-RAY PICTURE OP A COMPOUND FKACTURE AND DISLOCATION OP THE FOREARM. 

teaching institution, indeed no first-rate surgeon, is without the X-ray ap- 
paratus. By its use many doubtful cases of both injury and disease in surgi- 
cal practice are thus entirely rendered clear. In the diagnosis and treatment 
of many fractures it is nearly indispensable, showing the exact location of 
the break and the position of the fragment before and after dressing. Pro- 
bably in no other condition, unless it be in fractured bones, has the X-ray 
proved itself of so much value as in the location of foreign bodies lodged in 
any of the organs or tissues of the body. Before Professor Rontgen's dis- 
covery it was not of infrequent occurrence that an exploratory operation 
was necessary to positively prove the presence of a foreign body, and even 
this was at times of necessity a failure. To-day the X-ray picture enables 
the surgeon to learn the exact location of the foreign body and indicates to 
him the best point from which it may be attacked. With repeated improve- 




X-RAY PICTURE OF A DISLOCATED ELBOW. 



630 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

merits in apparatus the time of exposure required for making the picture of 
the part has been greatly reduced. The advantage of this was made mani- 
fest when it was discovered that destruction of the skin, the so-called "X-ray 
burns," might follow long and repeated exposure to the rays. It is not 
always necessary to make a plate of the part to be examined, since by simply 
studying the parts by the eyes through the fluoroscope or the fluoroscopic 
screen the surgeon can readily see everything that a photographic picture 
could show him. The fluoroscope or screen is now often used during the 
operation of removing foreign bodies ; through it the surgeon can watch the 
various steps of his operation, his approach to the foreign body and its final 
removal. 

If the field of its usefulness continues to expand at its present rate, it will 
not be long before its use as a diagnostic measure will be as valuable to the 
medical man as it now is to the surgeon. 

By such instruments of precision as this, and others less conspicuous, the 
old elements of intelligent inference and argument by analogy and exclusion 
are rendered of less value, and a rapid approach is made to scientific exacti- 
tude in surgery as well as medicine. All this has attained a far higher 
quality and scope in the last quarter of this century than in any other period 
of the world's history, and we may look to great advances in the coming 
century, in all life-conserving and remedial measures whereby the race may 
enjoy a larger measure of relief as well as immunity from the onslaught of 
disease and the results of accident. 

There is shown here for illustration a photographic picture of a limb, 
taken by the X-ray now growing familiar to every one. It should be borne 
in mind that while it is a simple matter for the casual observer to note ob- 
vious solutions of continuity in bones, or the presence of foreign bodies, this 
is not the chief item of usefulness to the surgeon, and certainly not to the 
medical practitioner. A special training is required to study and interpret 
the findings and appearances of the tissues, their altered relationships, densi- 
ties, and many other matters entirely insignificant to the uneducated among 
medical men or laity. 

Again, the picture here shown is similar in outline to but a reversal of the 
shading seen through the fluoroscope by direct vision, when the greatest skill 
is required in noting the significance of altered states in the denser or softer 
tissues. 

When suits for malpractice are instituted against surgeons it is not to be 
admitted that the evidence or findings of the " highly intelligent " but not 
technically skilled witness can have the slightest weight as proving the con- 
dition of tissues of which they are very ignorant, not only physiologically 
but more so pathologically. 



PROGRESS OF MEDICINE 

By FRANK C. HAMMOND, M.D., 

Instructor in Gynecology, Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. 

" As a point of history pregnant with valuable deductions, it is good to 
look back upon the conditions of medicine in former times and find that it 
has always kept pace with the progress of the physical and moral sciences. 
Where these, however, have been marked by folly and credulity, medicine 
has exhibited the same imperfections." 

It is difficult to trace the improvement in successive eras, because they 
melt into one another by indefinable gradations. During the earliest period 
it was believed that physic was an art which was supposed to be most myste- 
rious, and it was presumed that the practicers held communion with the 
world of spirits. The practice of medicine in those days consisted in the 
usage of agents necessarily unreliable, as, for instance, the word abracadabra 
hung around the neck as an amulet to chase away the ague, etc. 

Much time has been wasted in attempting to portray the first origin of 
medicine. Bambilla, a surgeon of Vienna, has asserted that Tubal Cain was 
the inventor of cauterizing instruments, apparatus for reducing fractures, and 
other instruments for surgical procedures, thus endeavoring to prove that 
surgery antedated medicine. It is evident that medicine must have had a 
very early origin, for mankind even in the earliest ages suffered pain and the 
train of sequences due to exposure, and hence soon discovered a method of 
alleviation. Their category probably consisted of herbs. Unacquainted, how- 
ever, with the construction and function of the human economy, practitioners 
were unable to trace the progress of disease, and the more fatal internal mala- 
dies were ascribed to the deities whom they feared. Hence, various supersti- 
tious practices would arise and be handed down from one generation to 
another. We may imagine this to have been the origin of the healing art, 
and such is nearly its present condition amongst the savages of Africa, 
Australasia, Polynesia, Sumatra, etc. 

Later on, the priests became the physicians, from being the oracles of the 
divinity whom the people wished to consult. The various remedies were 
handed down from one to another, as medical science did not exist at that 
time. Herodotus informs us that even in his time the Babylonians, Chal- 
deans, and other nations had no physicians. When any one was attacked 
with disease the patient was carried into the public street, and passers-by 
who had suffered from a similar affection, or nursed one who had, ad- 
vised the sufferer to employ the measures that proved successful in former 
cases. 

The earliest writers on medicine trace its origin, in common with that of 
most other branches of knowledge, to the Egyptians. They appear to be the 
first nation that cultivated medicine and furthered its progress. Many pecul- 
iar medical properties were attributed to the deities. All diseases were sup- 
posed to originate from the anger of Isis. Besin was burned in the morning,. 



632 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

myrrh, at noon, and a composition termed cyphy in the evening, in the tem- 
ples of Isis, and the sick were taken there to sleep, during which the ora- 
cles might reveal to them the means which they should employ to effect a 
cure. This is an illustration of the superstitions which prevailed at that 
time. 

The earliest authentic records which we can ascertain from collateral read- 
ing are to be found in the Scriptures. Here it is stated that Joseph com- 
manded his servants and physicians to embalm him (1700 b. a). This shows 
that Egypt at that time possessed a set of men who practiced the healing 
art, and that they embalmed the dead. This must have required an idea of 
anatomy, which, needless to say, was crude and unscientific, as dissection of 
the human body at that time was prohibited, the penalty being death. 

According to Pliny, the Egyptian kings encouraged post-mortems, for the 
purpose of ascertaining the cause of diseases ; and this method was fostered 
by the Ptolemies, during whose reigns anatomy was raised to a higher stan- 
dard. 

Through the writings of Moses in the sacred Scriptures, we learn that the 
medicine of the Hebrews appertained mostly to public hygiene. Meat of the 
hog and rabbit was forbidden, as being injurious in the Egyptian and Indian 
climate. The relation of man and wife and the purification of women were 
regulated. The measures suggested by Moses for the prevention of the 
spread of leprosy have not yet been surpassed. Next to Moses, Solomon 
acquired quite an efficient knowledge of compounding remedies. 

The Indian races were divided into castes, the priests alone enjoying the 
privilege of practicing medicine. Their medical knowledge was condensed 
in a book which they called Vagadasastir. They believed the body gave 
rise, through seventeen thousand vessels, to ten species of gas which con- 
flicted and engendered disease. So far as we know, they were the first to 
record a way of testing the specific gravity of urine. Though accused of 
many absurdities, the} T claimed to cui-e the bites of venomous snakes and 
compounded an ointment which eradicated the cicatrices of smallpox, — a 
result which has not as } T et been attained in the present epoch. The Chinese 
attribute the invention of medicine to Hoam-ti, one of their emperors, who 
lived about 2687 b. c. ; but possessing no anatomical knowledge, their sur- 
gery, to say the least, was barbarous. For over four thousand years the 
Chinese were not allowed to communicate with foreigners, and naturally their 
progress was at a standstill. They used cups, acupuncture, fomentations, 
lotions, plasters, baths, etc. Their midwifery practice consisted mainly of 
murderous principles, and it is only since the introduction of missionaries 
that a reformation in the medical practice of the Chinese empire has been 
accomplished. 

The condition of medicine in Greece did not differ from that of the "rude 
and uncivilized nations." But later, Greek physicians are credited with the 
most brilliant discoveries. The most distinguished of Chiron's pupils was 
JEsculapius, who occupies the most conspicuous place in the history of medi- 
cine. iEseulapius is always painted with a staff, because the sick have need 
of a support ; and the serpent entwined around it is the symbol of wisdom. 
The sons of JEsculapius are considered the fathers of surgery, and, for their 
distinguished valor at the siege of Troy, have been classed by Homer among 
the Greek heroes. 



PROGRESS OF MEDICINE 633 

The first operation of venesection, or blood-letting, formerly so promiscu- 
ously done, with at times good, but oftener disastrous, results, and now rarely 
resorted to, is attributed to Podalirius, of recognized Grecian medical skill, 
the patient being a princess. 

The early Greeks above all recognized the value of physical culture, which 
to-day occupies a prominent place in our curriculum. Were the children of 
to-day, like those of the ancient Greeks, compelled to follow a routine of phy- 
sical training, a rugged constitution would replace many a " delicate " and 
"infirm " one, and the race propagated would tend to develop a stronger char- 
acter. Then the weak-minded, now so conspicuously present, would be eradi- 
cated, and many diseased conditions fostered by an " inanimate " race would 
disappear. 

Hygeia, from whence comes Hygiene, or the art of preserving health, was 
a pretended sister of iEsculapius. Anatomy could not flourish in Greece, be- 
cause a most exemplary punishment awaited any untoward conduct toward 
the dead. Their peculiar religious beliefs regarding the rest of the soul were 
responsible for this. 

The knowledge of the functions of the body in health and disease was ap. 
predated by Pythagoras. Diogenes asserts that Alcmaeon, one of the Pytha- 
goreans, wrote a work on the functions, which work would consequently be the 
most ancient known treatise on physiology. 

The age of Hippocrates (b. c. 460-370) was marked by a revolution in med- 
ical science. " This central figure in the history of medicine " was descendant 
of a family in which the practice of medicine was hereditary. He was an ex- 
tensive writer on such subjects as epidemics, acute diseases, dislocations, frac- 
tures, etc. Owing to the impossibility of establishing a physiology without 
an anatomical basis, his references to these subjects are crude and incorrect. 
To Hippocrates we owe the classification of endemic, sporadic, and epidemic 
forms of disease, and their division into acute and chronic. He wrote on 
diseases of women and epilepsy, and his therapeutics, though crude, were a 
marked improvement on what had preceded. He wrote fully on external dis- 
eases and surgical therapeutics. In obstetrics he was a close observer and a 
thoughtful teacher. The brilliant theories and practices so diligently ob- 
served and urged by this master were thrown in the shadow by his thought- 
less followers. The well-instructed physician is not ignorant of the opinions 
of Hippocrates, for truly the " divine old man " is the " Father of Physic." 
He caused a revolution in the practice of medicine, semeiology, pathology, 
and dietetics. He taught physicians to observe attentively the progress of 
Nature, proved the inutility of theories, and showed that observation is the 
basis of medicine. 

An important age, and one of marked progress in medicine, is from the 
foundation of the Alexandrian Library (320 b. c.) up to the death of Galen 
(a. d. 200). Under the Ptolemies dissection of human bodies was allowed, 
and hence, as already stated, the science of medicine received quite an im- 
pulse. Herophilus deserves first mention as a dissector. He described the 
brain and its vessels, the eye, the intestinal canal, and parts of the vascular 
system. The valves of the heart were more exactly described by Erasistratus, 
who discovered the lymph vessels and pointed out that the epiglottis prevents 
the entrance of food into the lungs. 



634 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 

Aretseus, more than any other up to his time, attempted to found pathology 
upon a sound anatomic basis, an effort which shows the scientific progress of 
his age. 

Of all the physicians of antiquity, Galen was probably the most brilliant 
genius. In the midst of disorder he led back to the safer road of sound doc- 
trine and accurate observation which distinguished the Hippocratic school. He 
wrote extensively on anatomy, especially regarding the muscles. He was the 
first vivisector, by exposing the muscles of animals and demonstrating their 
ftmctions, and his classification according to their use is at present in vogue. 
Carefully regulated vivisection has been, and always will be, of incalculable 
benefit to the development of accurate medical knowledge, and an indirect 
aid in the alleviation of human suffering. Galen divided the body into cra- 
nial and thoracic cavities, and described the organs, etc., contained therein. 
Anatomy and physiology, the fundamental bases of medicine and surgery, 
made the most progress during the period just reviewed, and next came the 
description of diseases, their medical and surgical therapeutics. 

After the sixth century medicine was exercised almost exclusively by the 
monks of the West. They were unworthy the name of physicians, as they 
resorted more to prayers, and were retarded by ignorance and prejudice. 

During the seventh and eighth centuries there were among the monks a 
few traditionary remains of science, originating from the East. The prelates, 
archdeacons, etc., though continuing the practice of the healing art, were 
gradually discouraged by the church, but as late as the middle of the fifteenth 
century the Bishop of Colchester was chaplain and first physician to Henry 
VI. In 1452 the physicians of the University of Paris were not allowed to 
marry, the applicant, prior to admission, taking the oath of celibacy. 

During the twelfth century the school of Salernum. through the personal 
interest manifested by Emperor Frederick II., acquired a degree of reputa- 
tion attained by few similar institutions in ancient times. Schools in Paris 
and England were placed on an advanced standing, the professors being 
salaried ; and about this period the titles of bachelor, licentiate, and master, 
were granted to the physicians. 

During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries medicine made remarkable 
progress in France under St. Louis. During the reign of this prince the 
teaching of medicine and surgery was divided into separate and distinct 
classes. Medical institutions now became greatly encouraged, and in the 
leading cities of Europe universities were erected under the auspices of 
royalty. 

Medical instruction experienced an important revolution in the European 
countries during the fourteenth century. For the first time in Europe ana- 
tomy was taught by dissection of the human body. Guy de Chauliac, who 
lived at the end of this century, wrote a treatise on surgery which served as 
the basis of European instruction until Ambroise Pare of France published 
his celebrated work upon the same subject. 

The fifteenth century was also one of improvement. The Arabs added a 
few observations on pathology, especially of the eruptive fevers. Some useful 
works on pharmacy and materia medica were published during this epoch. 
During this era the operation was devised for replacing the nose when re- 
moved by accident or disease, by using for the purpose a piece of flesh taken 



PROGRESS OF MEDICINE 635 

from the arm, and applying it by a grafting process. About the middle of 
this period the internal administration of metallic drugs was introduced. 
Towards the latter end, the invention of printing tended to assist the progress 
of medicine. Near the close of this century scurvy was first noticed in 
Germany. During this period more energy was devoted to postmortem de- 
monstrations and the study of symptoms of diseases. 

To Benevieni we owe the commencement of the study of gross pathology 
and pathological anatomy. Malgaigne remarks of him : " A eulogy which he 
merits, and which he shared with no other person, and which has not been 
accorded to him up to this time by the many historians of surgery, who have 
superficially searched among these precious sources, is that he was the first 
who had the habit, felt the need, and set the useful example, which he trans- 
mitted to his successors, of searching in the cadaver, according to the title of 
his book, for the concealed causes of disease." His observations on anatomi- 
cal heart lesions, gall-stone, and presence of parasites in the body, were 
original. John Fernel, who has been surnamed "the modern Galen," divided 
medicine into physiology, pathology, and therapeutics. The fundamental 
maxim of therapeutics, that every disease must be combated by contrary 
remedies, was early laid down by him, and he claimed that anything that 
cured a disease was contrary to it. Surgery was placed on a high scale during 
this era, as thorough a course as the time afforded was given, and a rigid 
examination held at its termination. Ambroise Par£ contributed largely 
toward making this a glorious century. He rose from the lowest walks of 
life to the highest professional attainments and honors. He was the first to 
control hemorrhage by tying the bleeding vessels, thus doing away with the 
former crude and painful method of pouring on hot oil. This procedure 
proved quite a boon to surgery ; as an instance it may be mentioned that 
prior to the introduction of this method in amputations the bleeding was 
controlled by means of a hot iron, and this before the days of anaesthesia. 

Every age of ancient, mediaeval, and modern medicine has had its charla- 
tans, and the more civilization progresses, the more popular these quacks 
become with certain types of people, particularly' those of the middle and 
lower classes, although no class appears to be exempt. Latent, unscrupulous, 
and unprincipled, they play upon the credulity of the ignorant. 

The central figure of the mediaeval charlatans was Paracelsus, who was 
given to drink and debauchery. He advertised extensively, similar to the 
charlatans of to-day. and exerted an influence in his time. " The school which 
he would have founded was nothing but a school of ignorance, dissipation, 
and boasting — a school of medical dishonesty." 

During the sixteenth century the greatest discoveries took place in ana- 
tomy, based upon dissections, the only rational method of ascertaining ana- 
tomical knowledge. The lesser circulation of the blood, or that through the 
lungs, was appreciated. 

The officers of the universities were chosen by the students, who assisted 
in laying out the curriculum. Compare this with the rigid methods of med- 
ical instruction now in vogue. The practitioners were of roving habits, which 
were evidently contracted during their student days, as it was customary for 
them to go from one school to another, the poor classes defraying expenses 
by begging and singing. 



636 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 

There was evident improvement in the social and mental status of medical 
men upon the approach of the seventeenth century, and this period is signal- 
ized by the discovery of the circulation of the blood, one of the most impor- 
tant ever made in medicine. Chemistry now assumed the dignified aspect of 
a science, which fact benefited the progress of medicine. 

It is difficult for us at the present time to understand why the circulation 
of the blood was not discovered prior to this period, but to the ancients it 
was incomprehensible. They believed the arteries contained air, because 
after death they were found empty. William Harvey, the discoverer of the 
circulation of the blood, did not publish the results of his investigations until 
1628, first submitting them to fifteen years of proof. This naturally revolu- 
tionized physiology. The capillary circulation, or that intermediate between 
the arteries and veins, was described by Malpighi in 1628. Of course this 
was possible only through the means of a microscope. No less remarkable 
was the discovery of the lymphatic vessels. Peruvian bark (the alkaloid 
quinine being more commonly employed) so universally employed as a spe- 
cific for malaria, was first used in the early, part of this epoch. 

During this period ophthalmology (which treats of the diseases of the 
eye) was cultivated in France, cataract was first recognized, and the diseases 
of the ear first systematically described. Altogether the century showed 
marked progression, closing with the teachings of Sydenham, "the English 
Hippocrates." 

The eighteenth century was one of continued progress. The eminent 
observers devoted more time to microscopical work, studying the minute 
structure of the tissues and cells. One of the most prominent is Lieberkiihn, 
who invented the solar microscope, with which he was enabled to exhibit the 
circulation of the blood. The systematic practice of the preventive inocula- 
tion against small-pox by vaccination originated in this decade. The first 
inoculation with cow-pox was in 1774. Edward Jenner, the English surgeon, 
was " the father of vaccination," which he first did in 1796. About 1800, 
Dr. Waterhouse. then professor of medicine in Harvard College, performed 
the first vaccination in America, the patients being his four children. 

The treatment of the' insane was changed from one of torture and barba- 
rous methods to a more scientific one, conducive to the comfort and return to 
health of the patient. 

This period marks the earliest example of medical teaching in this coun- 
try, consisting of the demonstrations of anatomy in Philadelphia by Dr. 
Thomas Cadwalader, upon his return from Europe. This was previous to 
1750, about which time a body was dissected in New York. In 1754-56 Dr. 
William Hunter of Scotland delivered a series of lectures on anatomy, accom- 
panied by dissections, at Newport, P. I. 

In 1762 Dr. Shippen laid the foundation of a medical school in Philadel- 
phia, which finally developed into the Medical Department of the University 
of Pennsylvania. This was the first medical school established in this coun- 
try. In 1768 a school of medicine was organized in New York, and the next 
in succession was the Medical Department of Harvard College in 1782. The 
fourth was established at Hanover, 1797, being connected with Dartmouth 
College. These were the only medical colleges instituted prior to the present 
century. The first book on American surgery was written in 1775 by Dr. 
John Jones, the title being " Wounds and Fractures." 



PROGRESS OF MEDICINE 637 

" The tendency of the nineteenth century seems to be a continuation, and, 
perhaps, in some respects an exaggeration of the condition that obtained in 
France during the previous century ; in other words, the world has become 
practically an enormous school of pathological anatomy and diagnosis— a 




DR. OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES. 

school inaugurated by Bichat, as representing so-called scientific or exact 
medicine." 

Darwin has promulgated " the most influential philosophic doctrine of this 
or any other century." Our materia medica and the laws of physics have 
been enriched by botanical discoveries, aiding greatly the experimental re- 
searches of to-day. Helmholz has given us an instrument called the ophthal- 
moscope, containing a series of numbered magnifying lenses, with which the 
interior of the eye can be explored by looking directly through the pupil of 



638 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

the eye, similar to looking through a door into a room. Through his know- 
ledge of physics, Seebaeh was able to make fame through his discovery 
of thermal electricity. Daguerre, who invented photography, must not be 
overlooked, as by means of this process, many conditions are directly ap- 
preciated by the eye which could not be told in words and still convey an 
idea of the tumor, etc., being described. It may not be amiss to mention 
here that the biograph will in a few years prove an important factor in 
teaching the various operations. One surgeon in France is now employing 
it. We must not overlook Edison and his electrical achievements which 
directly and indirectly affect medicine ; nor Bell's telephone, which is some- 
times used to locate a bullet. By placing the receiver to the ear and probing 
for the bullet with electric conductors, the making and breaking of the cir- 
cuit upon contact with the missile is transmitted to the receiver and dis- 
tinctly heard. This procedure, however, has been discarded since the intro- 
duction by Bontgen of the X-ray. 

A very significant feature of the age has been the extraordinary develop- 
ment of associations devoted to scientific discussions and the publication of 
medical literature and journals. The formation of medical societies, espe- 
cially in the United States, has been quite active. But few counties are 
without a medical organization, referred to as " The . . . County Medical 
Society." 

The American Medical Association was established by Dr. Nathan Smith 
Davis in Philadelphia fifty-two years ago (1847). The first two years no meet- 
ings were held, but since then regular annual meetings have been in progress, 
the place of assembly being decided upon by a majority vote of its members. 
It has met in the city of its birth five times, the founder has been elected 
president twice, and is still (1900) in active practice at the age of eighty-two. 
He has attended all its meetings held in various cities from Boston to San 
Francisco. 

The first medical journal in this country appeared in New York, 1797. It 
was called " The New York Bepository," was published quarterly, and man- 
aged to reach its twenty-third edition. Fifty years ago there were about 
twenty journals published in the United States. At the end of the century 
there are two hundred and thirty. 

In 1810 there were six hundred and fifty students of medicine in America, 
and one hundred graduates. At the present writing about twenty thousand 
medical students are enrolled in our various colleges, and during the spring 
of 1899 about three thousand five hundred received the degree of M. D. 

The original branches, practice of medicine, surgery, obstetrics, physiology, 
anatomy, therapeutics, and chemistry, have been subdivided and specialized. 
Among the chief of these specialties are gynecology, which treats of diseases 
of women ; pediatrics, which treats of diseases of children ; dermatology, 
which treats of diseases of the skin ; ophthalmology, which treats of diseases 
of the eye ; laryngology, which treats of diseases of the throat and larynx ; 
otology, which treats of diseases of the ear ; neurology, which treats of 
diseases of the nerves; medical jurisprudence, which treats of the relation of 
medicine to law ; pathology, which treats of diseased tissues and organs ; 
bacteriology, which treats of the microbes ; and physical diagnosis, which 
treats of the art of discriminating disease by means of the eye, ear, and 



PROGRESS OF MEDICINE 639 

touch. The nucleus of the teaching regarding the latter subject is due to 
to the efforts and observations of Corvisart. of France. He was the first to 
ascertain the diseased areas of the lungs, by tapping on the chest with the 
fingers, and listening to the pitch of the note thus elicited. A low, dull note 
indicates that the lung is solid, as in pneumonia ; a flat note that fluid is 
present, and so on. By placing the ear to the chest wall, sounds in health 
and disease are heard, which vary in intensity, degree, etc. Laennec discov- 




DR. NATHAN SMITH DAVIS, OF CHICAGO. 

ered by accident that this method was greatly improved and the sounds 
more distinctly heard if a cylindrical tube was interposed between the ear 
and the chest wall. The outcome of this principle is the stethoscope. 

The name of Pravaz, the Lyons surgeon, has been perpetuated by the 
hypodermic syringe which he devised. The employment of suitable drugs in 
this instrument is the method par excellence for relieving pain. With it 
drugs can be injected into unconscious patients. Suicides who refuse to 
swallow emetics can have their stomachs emptied most effectually of their 
contents by a hypodermatic injection of apomorphine. 

The thermometer used for taking the temperature of the human body is so 
arranged that the mercury does not descend into the bulb until shaken down, 
hence after taking the temperature it remains uninfluenced until shaken 
down. Were an ordinary thermometer used, by the time it was removed 
from the patient to the light the mercury would descend several degrees. 
41 



640 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

Pasteur began the studies of fermentation in 1854. Through his observa- 
tions, aided by the microscope, the opinion was reached that micro-organisms 
played an important role in the causation of disease. Many of the labora- 
tory investigators became imbued with the spirit, and through their diligent 
observations the microbes causing many diseases have been isolated. It 
remained for Koch to discover the tubercle bacillus, or Bacillus tuberculosis, 
which is the cause of consumption. The sputum of a patient, properly 
stained, and examined under the microscope, will at once decide whether 
that individual has consumption. 

Having ascertained that bacteria were the cause of disease, sepsis (blood 
poisoning), etc., it then remained to discover a method of killing them, with- 
out any undue injury to the patient. Sir Joseph Lister began experiments 
upon this hypothesis, and in 1867 was able to publish favorable results. 
But lo ! the world was slow to bend to a new thought ably demonstrated, and 
for a score of years he was bitterly opposed. 

It was Crawford W. Long, in a little village of Alabama, who, in 1842, was 
the first to put to sleep a patient with ether, and remove a small growth. 
The patient, upon awakening, had experience'd no pain. This method of re- 
lieving pain was christened "anaesthesia" several years later, by the distin- 
guished Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, whose writings did more than those of 
any other American to eradicate "child-bed fever." Every woman in the 
land owes him an eternal debt of gratitude. To Guthrie, of Sackett's Har- 
bor, New York, is due the credit of first discovering chloroform, but Sir 
James Simpson, of Edinburgh, deserves the credit of first employing it in 
medicine. 

The surgeons of America laid the foundation of gynecology, the progress 
of which has been more marked than any department of medicine. The first 
ovariotomy in the world was performed by Dr. Ephraim McDowell in Ken- 
tucky, December, 1809. This was prior to the days of anaesthesia and anti- 
sepsis, and a howling mob awaited outside, ready to murder the brave sur- 
geon should his patient die during the operation. " In five days," says Dr. 
McDowell, " I visited her, and much to my astonishment found her engaged 
in making up her bed." Dr. J. Marion Sims, our illustrious genius who 
established an international reputation, did much to promulgate plastic work 
on the female genitalia. The deeds of medical men are soon forgotten by an 
ungrateful public, and the sons of iEsculapius are the last to have monu- 
ments erected to their memory. But four exist in America; one, in New 
York, to that grand old gynecologist, Dr. J. Marion Sims ; one in Washing- 
ton, to Dr. Samuel D. Gross, " the Nestor of American Surgery ; " one in 
Bushnell Park, Hartford, Conn., to Dr. Horace Wells, the discoverer of an- 
aesthesia ; and one in the Public Garden in Boston to the discoverer of anaes- 
thesia. This last bears no name. Antisepsis and anaesthesia have played 
an unusually important role in obstetrics, by alleviating the sufferings of 
childbirth and eradicating child-bed fever, thus reducing the mortality of both 
mother and child. 

Physiology has made very rapid strides during this era. Beaumont, in 
his famous work, describes digestion in the stomach and experiments on the 
gastric juice. He was enabled to observe this in a voyageur who was acci- 
dentally wounded in the stomach by the discharge of a musket, June, 1822. 



PROGRESS OF MEDICINE 



641 



Quite a large opening remained, which Nature closed with a valve. By push- 
ing the valve to one side, the interior of the stomach could be explored. 

Through the work of the experimental physiologists in the laboratories, 
the study of the action of drugs on the lungs, heart, liver, stomach, nerves, 
etc., has been greatly enhanced. 

Anatomy is now being taught by the only true method, and that is dissec- 
tion. Didactic lectures are given, but the student must dissect every part of 
the human body before he can receive his degree. Formerly graves were 




.1. MAKION StMS. A.B., M.D., 

(Late Suvgeon to the Woman's Hospital, New York.) 



robbed, and the bodies sold to the colleges. Now, however, through legisla- 
tive enactment, unclaimed bodies are turned over to the colleges, where they 
are preserved either by injection, a pickling process, or by cold storage. 

The ophthalmologists of to-day fear nothing inside nor outside the eye. 
Cross eyes are straightened, cataracts removed, eyeballs taken out and glass 
eyes inserted. 

This article would be incomplete, were not a few remarks directed toward 
the trained nurse. 

The first training school for nurses in America was established in connec- 
tion with the Lying-in Charity Hospital of Philadelphia in 1828. This school, 
still in existence, thus has the honor of being the oldest in this country, and 
is antedated by only one abroad. 



642 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

The generally recognized profession for women, that of the trained nurse, 
is practically of recent development. Twenty-five years ago the training 
6chool connected with the Bellevue Hospital, New York, graduated a class of 
five nurses. This was a marked departure in the medical history of this 
country. Since then the demand for the trained nurse has been great, and 
no hospital is complete without such a training school. 

The progress of medicine in the nineteenth century has been far more 
rapid, creditable, and momentous than during any like period of the past. 
This is true not only in the United States, but in every civilized country. 
Its entire scope, meaning, and purpose have undergone changes equivalent 
to revolution. Antique superstitions, idle theories, foolish speculations, 
absurd practices, the ridiculous jealousies and incriminations of opposing 
schools, have been largely eliminated. Medical institutions are upon the 
loftiest plane in their history. Teachers are better endowed than ever before. 
Periods of scholastic preparation have been lengthened and curriculums 
enlarged, thus securing for the fields of practice a higher mental equipment 
and more conscionable devotion to duty. Never before have the auxiliary and 
material agencies been turned to so frequent and preventive account. Elec- 
tricity, the microscope, anaesthesia, antisepsis, laboratory experiment, hospital 
opportunities, etc., are ever constant inspirations to skilled treatment and 
fresh researches. As the grand army of humanitarian workers was never so 
large as at the end of the century, so it was never better fortified for attack 
upon the enemies of health, fuller of enthusiasm or more -deeply established 
in the public confidence. One may not, as yet, assert that medicine is ridding 
itself of empiricism with a satisfactory degree of rapidity, or that it has 
arrived at the stage of an exact science, but it surely has approached such a 
stage as nearly as conditions will allow. 



EVOLUTION OF THE RAILWAY 

By E. E. RUSSELL TRATMAN, C.E., 
Assistant Editor of "Engineering News," Chicago. 

The railway as a means of rapid transportation and general intercommu- 
nication is one of the most important factors in the development of modern 
commerce and civilization, and, after reviewing what it has done and become 
in the nineteenth century, one cannot help wishing for the opportunity to 
review the railway wonders of the twentieth century. 

While the history of the railway dates back far beyond the nineteenth 
century, yet the railway, as we know it to-day, is essentially a product of 
this century. It dates, in fact, from England in 1830, when the Liverpool & 
Manchester Railway, 31 miles long, was opened, and was operated from the 
beginning by steam locomotives. The Stockton & Darlington Eailway, 37 
miles, was opened in 1825, but this line was intended only for private coal 
traffic, while the other line was built for general passenger and freight service, 
and for the use and benefit of the public. 

The United States followed this lead very closely. In 1828 the Delaware 
& Hudson Canal Company built a line from its mines to its canal at Kones- 
dale. This was a private coal road, however, and may best be compared to 
the Stockton & Darlington Eailway. The first public railway operated by 
steam was the Mohawk & Hudson Railway, from Albany to Schenectady, 16 
miles, which was opened in 1831. The Baltimore & Ohio Railway was the 
first railway enterprise of more than local character, being designed to open 
communication with the Ohio River, a distance of 400 miles. It was char- 
tered in 1827, commenced in 1828, completed to Ellicott's Mills (13 miles) in 
1830, and to "Washington (40 miles) in 1834. It is one of the great monu- 
ments of the American railway system, and it was examined by government 
commissions from Russia and Austria in 1831 and 1849. 

In speaking of the railway we unconsciously associate with it the steam 
locomotive, since the two are so entirely interdependent. Railways operated 
by horses, or by cables and stationary engines, could never have become the 
great civilizing and commercial medium which the railway operated by swift 
locomotives has become. Similarly, the development of the locomotive grew 
apace, as soon as it was recognized that the smooth track of the railway — 
and not the rough track of the highway — was to be its field of operation. 

At the end of the nineteenth century, after seventy years of development, 
the world has nearly 500,000 miles of railway, on which locomotives of 80 
to 110 tons in weight (without their tenders) haul freight trains of 1000 to 
3000 tons. Passenger trains, too, are run at speeds of 40 to 75 miles per 
hour in regular daily service, and even make bursts of speed at 80 to 100 
miles per hour. The fact that in 1890 Europe and North America had about 
320,000 miles of railway out of a grand total of 370,000 miles, indicates that 
this phase of nineteenth-century progress has been due mainly to peoples 
of Christian civilization, and besides this, it must be remembered that the 



644 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

railways of Asia, Africa, Australia, and South America have been mainly 
built by the same peoples. The central regions of these four latter geogra- 
phical divisions are fields for twentieth-century development. 

The great trunk lines of railway communication are hardly more impor- 
tant than the vast network of branch and minor lines which connect and 
intersect them. These latter lines bring the people of smaller towns and 
country districts into closer relation with the large cities, the centres of 
industrial and intellectual energy, enterprise, and wealth. They thus tend to 
reduce isolation and dependence upon purely local resources. 

Railways also serve important military and strategic purposes. In India 
many of the railways have been built with a view to the defense of the north- 
eastern frontier, and many European governments assume certain military 




THE OI/D STAGE COACH. 



authority over the railways. The first trans-continental railways of the 
United States and Canada were largely assisted by government subsidies on 
account of their great importance for the transportation of troops. The rail- 
way also serves purposes of pleasure, as well as of commerce and war. Not 
only do the ordinary railways carry much tourist and pleasure travel, but 
lines are built exclusively for such travel. Some of these take people to the 
summer and pleasure resorts, while others cater to the inherent desire of 
man to ascend great altitudes and to behold the world in its beauty and 
grandeur spread below them. For this purpose alone have railways been 
built to the summits of the Rockies, the Alps, and other mountain ranges. 

At the end of the century the United States has about 185,000 miles of 
railway, which have cost about $53,000 per mile and earn $6500 per mile. 
Great Britain has about 22.000 miles, which have cost $ 225.000 per mile 
and earn about $20,000 per mile. A large proportion of this high cost of 
construction is due to the high prices for land and to the preliminary par- 
liamentary proceedings which are necessary in securing the right to build 
railways. The average cost per mile of railways in different countries is as 
follows : — 

United States 553,000 Switzerland (ordinary) $119,300 

India 75,000 Do (mountain) 1(12,500 

Japan 9-2,000 Russia 122,000 

France 100,000 Austria-Hungary 125,400 

Germany 101,500 Great Britain . " 225,000 

One of the great economic purposes of railways in new countries is to 
reduce the cost of rapid transportation in bulk far below that of slow trans- 
portation in small quantities. Train speed is a matter of secondary impor- 



EVOLUTION OF THE RAILWAY 



645 



tance in such cases, the traffic accommodation and capacity of the slowest 
train being far beyond that of road or canal transportation. Traffic will be 
served better and at much less cost by being carried in bulk on 500 miles of 
railway at 10 miles per hour, than on 100 miles of railway at 35 miles per 
hour, and then in small lots on wagons or canal boats at 3 miles per hour for 
400 miles. 

The advantages of the rapid transportation of perishable freight by rail, 
especially in regard to food supplies for cities, were early recognized, and 
by 1854 the trains brought car-loads of country milk into London every day. 
Previous to this, the supply was obtained from cows kept in stables, which 
was an unsanitary and expensive plan. Another immediate result of railway 
service was that people began to live farther out of the towns, and then 
began the growth of the suburban residence districts, which are such a fea- 
ture of modern cities and city life. 

The early railways were built merely as local lines, and there was little 
idea of their ultimate connection or extension. These small individual lines. 
however, with their own rate-making powers and systems of management, 
have been consolidated into great systems, thus effecting material economies 
and facilities in operation. Thus the Mohawk & Hudson Railway of 1831 
was the first of a series of lines now consolidated to form the New York 
Central Railway ; while the Liverpool & Manchester Railwa}^ of 1830 was 
the beginning of what is now the London & Northwestern Railway system. 
Not only is there this consolidation, but also a most comprehensive system 
for the interchange of traffic between different systems. Thus passengers 
can purchase through tickets and travel through from Paris to St. Peters- 








FIRST TRAIN OF STEAM CARS. 

burg, or from Boston to San Francisco, while freight cars can be sent through 
in a similar way. This is really a wonderful feature of railway develop- 
ment. The following are a few examples of the great railway systems of the 
world: — 



Railway. 



Pennsylvania (U. S. A.) , 

Chicago & Northwestern (U. S. A.) .... 
Chicago, Burlington & Quincv (U. S. A.) 
Atchison, Topeka & Santa F<*"(U. S. A.).. 

Great Western (England) 

London & Northwestern (England) 

Paris, Lyons & Mediterranean (France).. 

Western (France) 

Mediterranean (Italy) 

Northwestern (India) 





Loco- 


i 
Passenger 




motives. 


Cars. 


8882 


3594 


3847 


7996 


1380 


1176 


7402 


1205 


936 


7120 


1036 


655 


257H 


1837 


6201 


1912 


2851 


8446 


5594 


2624 


5837 


3464 


1492 


4378 


3568 


1314 


3706 


3371 


602 


2121 



Freight 

'Jars. 



146,060 
49,484 
40,720 
29,837 
53,156 
65,456 
87,320 
26,487 
23,077 
10,312 



646 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



In some countries the government owns and operates all, or nearly all, of 
the railways, as in Germany, Belgium, and the African and Australian colo- 
nies. Switzerland, in 1898. decided that its government should acquire the 
railways. In Holland and Italy the government owns the railways, but 
leases them to operating companies. France, Brazil, and the Argentine 
Republic have both state and private lines, with a greater or less degree 
of state assistance and control of the latter. In Great Britain the railways 
are owned entirely by private companies, but their operation is subject to 
government supervision in the public interests. In the United States there 
was at first almost absolute freedom of construction, but the consequent 
abuses and financial disasters, owing to unnecessary lines and cut-throat com- 
petition, have led some of the States to wisely exercise some degree of control 
over railway affairs. The interference of the federal government in railway 
affairs lias been slight but important. In 1802 it aided the construction of 
the first transcontinental railway ; in 1887 it passed the act for the regula- 
tion of rates, etc., in interstate traffic ; and in 1893 it passed the act making 
compulsory the use of power brakes and automatic couplers on freight cars. 

Government ownership and operation of railways is rarely satisfactory 
from a financial or a traffic point of view, but, on the other hand, an abso- 
lutely unrestricted railway element is liable to become a serious evil. The 
best system is undoubtedly that in which the railways are owned and oper- 
ated by private enterprise, but subject to state supervision, like steamships, 
factories, etc. It must not be forgotten, however, that private enterprise 
is not always available. In Russia, for example, the development of rail- 
ways would have been but slow on such a basis ; and in India, government 
backing was needed to induce British capitalists to enter the field. It is 
unfortunate for China that neither the government nor the people have been 
competent or enterprising enough to deal with the railway question. The pre- 
sent system of development by rival interests of various nationalities seems 
almost certain to lead to the eventual dissolution of the empire and its parti- 
tion among other nations, as Africa is already in large measure partitioned. 

In the United States railway construction has gone by leaps and bounds, 
and there is now a vast network of lines, — main, secondary, branch, and 
local. The highest records of construction within the past twenty years 
were 12,800 miles built in 1887, and 11,600 miles in 1882, while the lowest 
record was 1750 miles in 1896. The growth from 1886 to 1899 has been as 
follows, the relatively small increase in number of locomotives being due to 
the greater power of modern engines : — 





1886. 


1899. 


Increase, 
per cent. 


Mileage 


133,600 

482,000,000 

871,500 

26,400 


185,000 

780,000,000 

1,330,000 

36,000 


88.47 


Tonnage carried. . . 


62.00 




52.61 




36.30 







Perhaps the railway of most recent interest is the first line in Alaska, 
which is twenty miles long, and was built as a result of the rush to the Klon- 



EVOLUTION OF THE RAILWAY 



647 



dike gold fields. This was opened on February 20, 1899. The great trans- 
continental railways, however, are of much broader interest. In 1835 the 
Rev. Samuel Parker, a missionary in the Northwest, suggested a railway 
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and Dr. Samuel E. Barlow proposed one 
from New York to the Columbia River, 2000 miles, to cost .$10,000 per mile, 
and to carry traffic at about seven miles per hour. From 1844 to 1849 Mr. 
Asa Whitney urged Congress to grant land to aid him in building a line from 
Lake Michigan to San Francisco, 2030 miles, to cost $20,000 per mile. 
Between 1853 and 1861 Congress had surveys made of five routes, but no 
definite action was taken until after the outbreak of the Civil War, in 1861, 




A RAILWAY TRAIN IN BELGIUM. 



when the federal government soon recognized the importance of having 
direct communication with the Pacific States, which were at that time iso- 
lated. Companies were organized in 1862, and work commenced in 1864, 
under government subsidies and military aid and protection. On May 10, 
1869, the Union Pacific Railway (from the east) and the Central Pacific Rail- 
way (from the west) met at Promontory Point. Utah, 1186 miles from the 
Missouri River and 638 miles from Sacramento, Cal. 

Now, thirty years later, we have six so-called transcontinental railways, no 
one of which, however, has its own line from ocean to ocean, and none of 
which run through trains or cars. In Canada, however, the Canadian Pacific 
Railway (opened in 1887) has a through line from St. John and Montreal to 
Vancouver, with through trains daily between the latter points, 2905 miles. 
The principal transcontinental lines, with the total distances from ocean to 
ocean, are shown on the following page. 



648 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



Railway. 


Opened. 


Route. 


Length. 


Total 
Distance. 


5. Union Pacific 

6. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe . 


L887 

18:13 

1869 

1883 


Montreal to Vancouver . . . 
St. Paul to Seattle . ... 
St. Paul to Tacoma .... 
1 Imaha to San Francisco . . 
Omaha to Portland .... 
Chicago to San Francisco . . 
New Orleans to San Francisco 


2905 
1827 
1912 
1928 
1823 
2577 
2489 


2905 
3157* 

••1242 
••5340 
3235 
3497 
4164* 



* In Xos. 2 and 7 the total distance is given from New York. 



Of the various completed and partly completed interoceanic railways across 
Central America, the most important Ijy far is the Panama railway, in Co- 
lombia, 47^ miles lung. This was opened as long ago as 1855, and was 
originally intended as a link in a route between New York and San Fran- 
cisco, 5450 miles. In South America, there are few railways of great impor- 
tance, and the interior yet remains undeveloped, with the exception of the 
great plains of the Argentine Republic. A transcontinental line between 
Buenos Ayres and Valparaiso. 850 miles, is nearly completed, but work has 
been stopped for some years, leaving 50 miles yet to be built at the summit 
of the Andes. An interesting, but as yet visionaiy, scheme is that for an 
intercontinental railway through Central and South America. The distance 
from the southern frontier of Mexico to Buenos Ayres would be 5500 miles. 
About 1280 miles of this are built, but comprise many small lines which 
would have to be rebuilt. The total cost would be about $220,000,000, at a 
low estimate, and the total distance from New York to Buenos Ayres would 
be 10,300 miles by rail. 

In Europe there is a vast and comprehensive network of railway lines, but 
the distances are less, even St. Petersburg and Constantinople being but 
about 1600 and 1800 miles from Paris. While the development of railways 
has been remarkable, the most striking features are the lines which cross 
the Alps to connect the interior with the Mediterranean ports. The first of 
these was the Semmering railway, on the route between Vienna and Trieste 
(1854). The Mont Cenis railway (1867) was mainly a surface line, with 
heavy inclines operated on the Fell grip-rail system. Its route followed the 
great carriage road built by Napoleon in 1803-10. The railway over the 
Brenner Pass was opened in 1868 ; in 1871 the Mont Cenis tunnel superseded 
the high-level line, and in 1880 the Great St. Gothard railway was opened. 
This was followed by the Arlberg railway in 1884, and the Simplon railway 
is now under construction. 

Europe has the only railway within the Arctic Circle. It runs from Lulea, 
on the Gulf of Bothnia, northwest to the Gellivara iron mines, 44 miles 
within the circle. As the port is closed by ice during the winter, the line is 
to be extended to the Atlantic coast at Ofoten, 69° north latitude, where the 
influence of the Gulf Stream keeps the ports open. This end of the line will 
be 130 miles north of the Arctic Circle. 

The countries of Asia (with the exception of India) are but scantily sup- 
plied with railways. Even Palestine — the Holy Land — has, however, been 
invaded, and has now two railways. One of these is from Jaffa (the biblical 



650 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX^ CENTURY 

Joppa) to Jerusalem, 54 miles (1892) ; the other is from Beirut to Damascus,. 
70 miles. British interests have long advocated an " all-rail-to-lndia" pro- 
ject. The line would start opposite Constantinople, pass down the Euphrates 
valley, across Persia, and along the coast of Baluchistan to Kurrachee, con- 
necting there with the Indian railway system. This great system aggregates 
25,000 miles, and extends up to the Bolan Pass and the Khyber Pass, on 
the Afghan frontier. Southward, it has been proposed to connect with the 
Ceylon railways by a line of bridges and embankments along the reefs and 
shoals known as Adam's Bridge. 

Owing to the vigorous oj)position of the government and people, China 
has but 350 miles of railway to its 4,200,000 square miles and its population 
of 420,000,000. Many lines are projected, but are all in the eastern portion, 
and the twentieth century will be well advanced before the railway opens up 
the heart of the country to civilization. Japan, the very opposite of China, 
has encouraged railway construction, and now has '3000 miles of railway to 
its 147,000 square miles and its population of 45,000,000. 

The most notable of all the railways in Asia is the great Trans-Siberian 
railway, now being built by the Russian government. It was commenced in 
1891, and may be completed by 1903, the distance from St. Petersburg to 
Vladivostok, or Port Arthur, being then about 5670 miles. There are several 
large cities on the route, and the line does not pass through such a wild and 
uninhabited country as that through which the Union Pacific Railroad was 
built thirty years ago. It is now open to Lake Baikal, the trip of 3230 miles 
being made in about 12 days by the slow train, or 8 days by the less frequent 
fast train. The road is roughly and lightly built in many respects, so that 
high speeds cannot be maintained. The eastern end of the road will pass 
through Chinese territory, thus giving Russia a firm foothold in that empire. 
Hardly less interesting is the Trans-Caspian railway, from the Caspian Sea 
to Samarcand, 885 miles, with a branch from Merv to within 95 miles of the 
Afghan city of Herat. An extension to the Persian Gulf is also projected. 
As the Trans-Siberian railway has developed a new wheat-growing region, so 
the Trans-Caspian railway is developing a new cotton-growing region. 

In Africa the railways already extend northward from Cape Town, through 
the land of the Boers and up to Buluwayo, the old Zulu stronghold, 1400 
miles. There is a picturesque project for carrying the line on to the Medi- 
terranean, a total distance of 5500 miles, but this will not materialize for 
many years. The Congo railway, passing the rapids, opens communication 
between the coast and a long stretch of inland navigation. Several lines are 
being pushed from the east coast into the interior, and a transcontinental 
railway from St. Paul de Loando, on the west, has been commenced, but 
there is not now much life in this latter project. The French have two 
favorite schemes for railways, — from Algeria to Timbuctoo, and from Tunis 
to Lake Chad, the latter line being about 1600 miles in length. 

In Australia, the lines of the different colonies are gradually extending and 
connecting to form a continuous system, which is hampered, however, by dif- 
ferences of gauge. There is railway communication between the capitals of 
Queensland (Brisbane), New South Wales (Sydney), Victoria (Melbourne), 
and South Australia (Adelaide). The great stretch westward to the coast, 
cities of Western Australia is yet in the future, as is also the South Aus- 



EVOLUTION OF THE RAILWAY 



651 



tralian transcontinental line from Adelaide northward across vast deserts 
{already crossed by the telegraph) to Palmerston. 

Great bridges and tunnels are among the prominent features of the rail- 
ways of the world, but space forbids entering into details of these works. 
They are in principle similar to those required for highways, but many of 
these great works would never have been undertaken for such traffic as is 
carried by a highway. The only railway suspension bridge ever built was 
the Niagara bridge, opened in 1855, and replaced by a steel arch in 1898. 
The development of bridges and traffic may be judged from the fact that the 
Victoria single-track tubular bridge over the St. Lawrence, at Montreal, which 




ENTRANCE TO ST. GOTIIARD TUNNEL, SWITZERLAND. 



was opened in 1859, was replaced in 1897-98 by a double-track railway and 
roadway truss bridge on the same piers. The steel arch bridge, 1700 feet 
long, across the Mississippi, at St. Louis, cost $5,300,000. The tubular bridge, 
6592 feet long, over the St. Lawrence, at Montreal. Canada, cost $7,000,000. 
The cantilever bridge, 8925 feet long, over the Firth of Forth, Great Britain, 
cost $13,000,000. The cost of the proposed suspension bridge, 3000 feet 
long, over the Hudson, at New York, is estimated at $13,000,000. The first 
railway tunnel was the Portage Tunnel, in Pennsylvania, built in 1831. The 
longest railway tunnel is the Simplon, in Switzerland. It is 12.25 miles in 
length, and is still under construction. The next longest is the Gothard, 
Switzerland. It is 9.30 miles long, and was opened in 1881. 

In track construction, cast-iron rails began to be superseded by wrought 



652 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 



iron in 1820, and many of the early American railways had strap iron laid on 
timber stringers. Within the past twenty years steel has been used almost 
exclusively. In place of rails weighing 25 to 35 lbs. per yard, and 3 to 15 
feet in length, we now use rails of 80 to 100 lbs. per yard, 30 to 60 feet long. 
Stone blocks and wooden ties were first used to support the rails, and the 
latter are now generally used, although metal ties are extensively used and 




EAILWAT SIGNALS. 



date back to 1846. In 1894 there were thirty-five thousand miles of railway 
laid with this form of track. The next development will probably be a per- 
manent and continuous concrete bed for the rails ; as the present construction, 
with wooden ties laid in stone or other ballast, requires continual attention 
and repair under the effects of heavy traffic. 

The semaphore signal was introduced in England by Mr. C. H. Gregory in 
1841, and is now used in all parts of the world, to govern and protect train 
movements. The first interlocking plant was erected in 1843, and the com- 
plete plants — as used to-day — date from 1856. Now, practically all impor- 



EVOLUTION OF THE RAILWAY 



653 



tant junctions are equipped with interlocking plants, which prevent conflict- 
ing signals and switches being so set as to lead to accident. The electric 
telegraph was patented by Cooke and Wheatstone in 1837, and in 1839 they 
secured its introduction to govern the train service on the Great Western 
Railway (England). The movements were telegraphed from station to sta- 
tion, and a train was not allowed to leave a station until the preceding train 
had passed the next station in advance. This was the beginning of the 
" block system," which is a great element in the safe operation of traffic, since 
it maintains an interval of space between trains. Mr. Edwin Clark's tele- 
graph block system was introduced in 1853, and as traffic increased interme- 
diate block signal stations were established between the regular stations, so 
as to shorten the distances between trains. This system is compulsory in 
Great Britain and is already largely used in the United States. It was at 




AN AMERICAN EXPRESS LOCOMOTIVE. 



first held that it was not adapted to conditions in this country, where so 
many lines have but a single track, but experience has shown that it increases 
the facility as well as the safety of operating traffic on single and double 
track lines alike. 

Steam locomotives were used on colliery railways in England as early as 
1801, when Trevithick built an engine, which was the first to haul a train on 
rails. George Stephenson built his first locomotive in 1814, and in 1825 built 
the " Locomotion" for the Stockton & Darlington Railway. Horses, station- 
ary engines, and steam locomotives were all proposed for the Liverpool & Man- 
chester Railway, and in 1829 the directors offered. a premium of $2500 for 
the best locomotive. Each engine was to consume its smoke, weigh about 6 
tons, cost not more than $2750, and be capable of hauling a train of 20 tons 
at 10 miles per hour. This led to the now historical trials at Rainhill, in 
October, 1829, between the "Rocket" (Stephenson), the "Novelty" (Braith- 
waite and Ericson), and the " Sans Pared *' (Hackworth). The award was 
made to the "Rocket" as the most practicable machine, although the 



654 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

"Novelty" attained a higher speed, and the "Sans Pareil" was also a good 
engine and continued in use for several years. Seguin introduced the loco- 
motive in France in 1827, having modified and rebuilt an old Stephenson 
engine. 

The first locomotive operated in the United States was the imported 
" Stourbridge Lion," on the Delaware & Hudson Canal Co.'s line, in 1829. 
Cooper's " Tom Thumb " was run on the Baltimore & Ohio Railway in 1830, 
and in 1831 the directors of this road offered premiums of $4000 and $3500 
for locomotives. Each engine was to weigh not more than 3^ tons, to have 
four wheels, and to haul loads of 15 tons at 15 miles per hour for 30 days. 
Five engines were presented, by Davis, Costell, Milholland, Childs, and James. 
The prizes were awarded to the first two, the Davis engine " York " being 
rebuilt under the direction of its inventor and Mr. Ross Winans, while the 
"Costell" was put in switching service. In 1831 the "John Bull" was built 
by the Stephensons in England, and was put in service on the Camden & 
Amboy Railway (U. S. A.) in the same year. In 1893 this old engine was 
readjusted and ran from New York to Chicago, 912 miles, under its own steam, 
hauling two cars of the type of 1836. 

In 1898 there were about 19,500 locomotives in Great Britain and 36,500 
in the United States. As a comparison between the little engines of early 
days and the huge and swift engines of to-day, it may be stated that modern 
passenger locomotives are now constructed with as many as six driving 
wheels, and ten wheels in all. Some of those in use on the Great Northern 
Railway, Great Britain, have driving wheels of 97 inches in diameter. On 
the Fitchburg Railway, U. S. A., locomotives are in use which weigh 75 tons. 
Some modern freight locomotives have as many as ten driving wheels, and 
twelve wheels in all, and a total weight of 115 tons. 

Since the application of electric traction to street railways, it has fre- 
quently been said that it would eventually supersede the steam locomotive. 
In no instance, however, has it yet been applied to regular railway service, 
with heavy trains and long runs, nor is there yet any indication of increased 
economy or efficiency due to its use in such service. It is successfully used 
for local and suburban lines, but these form a class in themselves, and the 
conditions of operation are very different from those which obtain in ordi- 
nary service. The Baltimore & Ohio Railway has some heavy electric loco- 
motives, but these are for hauling trains through a tunnel, to avoid the trouble 
and discomfort from the smoke and gases from the steam engines. 

The early passenger cars were either open cars with cross seats, or had 
coach bodies on four-wheel platform cars. The coach-body cars on the Mo- 
hawk & Hudson Railway, in 1831, were 7 ft. 4 in. long and 5 ft. wide. In 
1836 the American type of car was introduced on the Camden & Amboy Rail- 
way, having a long body mounted on two four-wheeled trucks. These cars 
seated 48 passengers, and cars for 60 passengers were in use in 1839, their cost 
being $2400. American day cars are now 60 to 80 ft. long, seating 60 to 84 
passengers, and weighing from 30 to 47 tons. The standard day car of the 
Pennsylvania Railway is 60 ft. 7 in. long over all, and seats Q6 passengers. 
Dining and sleeping cars weigh from 45 to 65 tons, much of the weight being 
due to the special equipment for the comfort and convenience of passengers, 
and consequently so much dead weight to be hauled. It can be said without 



EVOLUTION OF THE RAILWAY 655 

dispute that in no other country have the railways done so much for the 
comfort and convenience of their passengers, and have charged so little 
therefor. 

In Europe, the cars developed into the compartment system, with side 
doors, there being high transverse partitions with seats on each side, so that 
in a full compartment half the passengers must ride backward. The cars 
are usually short, with two or three axles, but about 1872 the American sys- 
tem of mounting cars on trucks was introduced, and longer cars on trucks 
are now somewhat extensively used. Within later years corridor cars have 
been introduced, with a corridor connecting the compartments. Such details 



Hi ; ■ 




I 


*" ' Urn 1 - - 


316 

L.s.a M.S.RV 




P^ 4^ ,/j|Hfe-_2JJjJi^^^H j^^^l^ft ^^^^m 


. 





AN AMERICAN FREIGHT LOCOMOTIVE. 

as steam heat, toilet arrangements, ample light, luxurious finish, etc., which 
have long been a matter of course in this country, are quite " end of the cen- 
tury " improvements in Europe, and generally below the standards observed 
in this country. 

Sleeping cars were used on the Cumberland Valley Railway (U. S. A.) in 
1836. In 1856, Mr. T. L. Woodruff built a sleeping car, and in 1857 two 
were built by Mr. Webster Wagner and operated on the JSTew York Central 
Railway. Mr. George M. Pullman began his experiments in 1859, and in 
1864 he put in service on the Chicago & Alton Railway the first sleeping car 
with the berth arrangements now almost universally used. He pushed the 
business more vigorously than his predecessors and acquired many of their 
patents. The Pullman Palace Car Co. was organized in 1867, and in 1879 its 
various works were all concentrated in a new industrial town — called Pull- 
man — near Chicago. In 1898 the company owned 2,428 cars, which were 
operated on 121,236 miles of railway, ran 190,562,758 miles, and carried 
4,852,400 passengers. Most of the cars are in the United States, but some 
are in Europe and Australia. The Wagner Palace Car Co. owns 560 sleeping 
cars and 143 parlor cars. In Europe most of the long distance sleeping and 
dining car service is operated by the International Sleeping Car Co., which 
runs cars between Paris and Constantinople (72 hours), Paris and St. Peters- 
burg (120 hours), Calais and Brindisi (25 hours). 

Passenger cars are now usually lighted by oil, the mineral oil used in 

America being superior to the vegetable oils commonly used in Europe. Oil 

gas, compressed in tanks, is very extensively used, and gives an excellent 

light. The system was invented by Mr. Julius Pintsch, and was introduced 

42 



656 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

in Germany in 1873, and in the United States in 1881. It is now applied to 
about 85,000 cars in 22 countries ; 32,000 of these cars being in Germany, 
17,000 in Great Britain, and 15,000 in the United States. The electric light 
is as yet used only on a few of the finest express trains, the current being gener- 
ated either from a steam engine and dynamo in the baggage car, or from a 
dynamo on each car, driven from one of the car axles. Storage batteries main- 
tain the light when the cars are at rest. American cars were heated by stoves 
at a very early date, and this developed into the hot water system, with a stove 
and circulating pipes in each car. Steam from the locomotive, however, is 
now generally employed, and its use is compulsory in some States. In Eu- 
rope the passengers have to rely largely upon their own wraps and rugs. 

In American freight cars, great improvements have been introduced, in- 
creasing the carrying capacity while reducing the weight. The capacity has 
been increased from 10 tons of load in 1870, to 30, 40, and even 50 tons in 
1899 (an increase of 300 to 500 per cent). The weight has increased only 
from 10 to 15 or 17 tons (or 50 to 70 per cent). Cars are now being built 
entirely of steel, and while their first cost is greater, the cost per ton and the 
expenses of maintenance are less than for wooden cars of similar capacity. 
As sleeping, dining, parlor, tourist, and other special cars have been intro- 
duced for passenger traffic, so refrigerator, stock, horse, fruit, poultry, and 
furniture cars have been introduced for special requirements in freight traffic. 
In other countries, however, the use of such special equipment is much more 




EXTERIOR OF LATEST SLEEPING CAR. 

limited. The ordinary foreign freight cars are the same as those of 30 or 40 
years ago, being short four-wheel cars, weighing 5 tons, and carrying 8 to 10 
tons. These are not well adapted to the handling of bulk freight, and greatly 
increased economy and facility in such traffic would result from the introduc- 
tion of the American system, as has been done in Australia. In modern 
American practice, too, the cars are equipped with automatic couplers and 



EVOLUTION OF THE RAILWAY 



657 



power brakes, thus greatly increasing the safety and facility of operating 
heavy fast trains. In 1893, Congress passed a law requiring that by January 
1, 1898, all freight cars should be equipped with automatic couplers and 
enough cars equipped with power brakes (operated from the engine) to put 

n 




INTERIOR OP A PULLMAN SLEEPING CAR. 

the trains entirely under the control of the enginemen. The date was after- 
wards extended to January 1. 1900. 

As the speed and weight of trains increased, the dangers due to lack of 
brake power soon became alarmingly apparent, and numerous forms of con- 
tinuous brakes were devised, to be applied to the wheels of every car, under 
the control of the engineman. In 1889, the British government passed the 
Railways Regulation Act, making compulsory the use of the block system, 
the interlocking system, and continuous brakes. In England and some other 



658 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

foreign countries, the vacuum brake (introduced about 1871) is largely used, 
but it is slower in action than the compressed air brake, and is therefore less 
efficient for long, heavy, and fast trains. 

The Westinghouse brake is one of the most important factors in the safe 
and efficient handling of heavy and fast trains. Mr. George Westinghouse 
patented his straight-air brake in 1869, his plain automatic brake in 1872, and 
his quick-action freight train brake in 1887, while in 1892 he introduced his 
high-speed brake for express trains. Up to the opening of 1899, the West- 
inghouse brake had been applied to about 55,500 locomotives and 912,000 
cars, of which 31,300 locomotives, 50,000 passenger cars and 750,000 freight 
cars were on American railways. With this brake, a passenger train of 300 
tons, traveling at 60 miles per hour, can be stopped in about 4500 feet and 
about 90 seconds, or in 1200 feet and 31 seconds in case of emergency. A 
freight train of 800 tons, running at 30 miles per hour, can be stopped in 
about 950 feet in 32 seconds, or in 300 feet and 11 seconds by an " emer- 
gency " application. Very few countries have applied continuous brakes to 
freight cars, except the United States and Canada, and (to some extent) 
Russia and New South Wales. 

The improvement in train service has been even greater than that in train 
equipment, and this improvement has been in speed, accommodation, and 
number of trains. Among the notable runs are those across the American 
and European continents. The Canadian Pacific Railway starts a train daily 
from each end of the line for a through run of 2900 miles. In 1888, a through 
train service (with sleeping and dining cars) was instituted between Paris 
and Constantinople, about 1800 miles, and through trains are run twice a 
week between Paris and St. Petersburg, 1600 miles. There is also a similar 
service between Calais and Brindisi, 1200 miles, in connection with the mail 
steamers between England and India. In 1898, the Trans-Siberian Railway 
was completed to Irkutsk, and a through train service between St. Petersburg 
and that city, 3230 miles, was commenced. 

Railway trains were at first intended to have speeds of about 10 to 20 miles 
per hour, the latter being looked upon as almost excessive, but much higher 
speeds were very soon attained. There has been almost from the earliest 
days a public demand for higher and higher speeds, with consequent rivalry 
between the railways. The United States and Great Britain (and France 
within the past few years) have the fastest trains and by far the greater 
number of fast trains. The highest recorded train speed is that of the Expo- 
sition Flyer, 270 tons total, upon the New York Central Railway, May 10th, 
1893. It ran a distance of one mile at the rate of 112 miles per hour, and 
again, on the same date, maintained a speed of 100 miles per hour, through a 
distance of five miles. As a daily train between New York and Chicago, it 
maintained a rate of 60 to 75 miles an hour, throughout the entire 980 miles 
of distance. 

It will be seen that the speed of " 100-miles-an-hour," which is popularly 
looked upon as a sort of ideal, has been more than once exceeded, but it may 
be well to explain that such spectacular bursts of speed are really less impor- 
tant and less wonderful than the trips of 50 to 1000 miles at speeds averaging 
50 to 65 miles per hour for the entire journey. Taking into account the 
loss of time by stops at stations, by changing engines, by the resistance of 



660 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX 1 ' 11 CENTURY 



long grades, etc., it will be easily understood that in order to maintain the 
average speed from start to finish, the actual speeds must often range from 
60 to 75 or even 80 miles per hour. The regular daily transcontinental train 
of the Canadian Pacific Railway has an average speed of 30 miles per hour, 
but maintains this for the trip of 2906 miles, which occupies 94^ hours. This 
is a train and a record of which railway men in general, and those of the 
Canadian Pacific Railway in particular, may well be proud. There are no 
such through trains in the United States, but in 1876 a special theatre train 
was run from New York to San Francisco in 3 days 7§ hours. In 1889, the 
time of the transcontinental mails was 5 days 8| hours, but that same year it 
was reduced to 4 days 12| hours, which schedule continued in force until 
1899. On January 1, 1899, a new mail service was inaugurated, making the 
3408 miles in 98^ hours, or at an average of 341 miles per hour, including all 
stops, and the transfer of mail bags across Chicago by wagon from one 
station to another. The actual running speed is often 60 to 75 miles per 
hour for long stretches. Engines are changed 18 times and postal crews 7 
times. 

Fast passenger trains are a popular attraction, but only railway men can 
fully appreciate the advantages and economies of heavy trains for handling 
freight traffic. In Europe coal trains weigh from 300 to 400 tons, but in the 
United States the weight of coal, ore, and freight trains is from 800 to 2000 
tons. Automatic couplers and power brakes enable the freight trains to be 
run as fast as passenger trains, with entire safety ; improved cars carry 
greater loads, and more powerful locomotives are continually being put in 
service to haul heavier trains. The heaviest trains on record are as follows : 
(1) Pennsylvania Railway, 130 cars, 5213 tons, or 5560 tons with engine and 
tender ; (2) New York Central Railway, 81 cars, 3478 tons, or 3595 tons with 
engine and tender. Both these were run in 1898, the length of journey being 
160 and 140 miles. 

The mails were carried by rail between Baltimore and Washington in 1834, 
on recommendation of the Postmaster-General. The U. S. railway service 
was instituted in August, 1864, between Chicago and Clinton, and the follow- 
ing figures indicate its wonderful development : — 



Mileage run by mail ears . . 
Number (if mail ears .... 
Number of mail clerks . . . 
Miles of railway operated over 
Tons of mail carried .... 



1880 



65,763,993 

2,040 

85,320 
368,000 



1898 



187,483,187 

3,649 

7,999 

174,777 

1.432,050 



The railway express business was started in 1838 by Mr. W. F. Harnden, 
on a suggestion from Mr. Josiah Quincy, who had to travel weekly from Bos- 
ton to New York, and Avas in the habit of taking small packages for business 
acquaintances. Mr. Alvin Adams became associated with Mr. Harnden, and 
in 1845 formed the Adams Express Co. In Great Britain, this business is 
conducted by the parcels-post and the railway companies, but in other Euro- 
pean countries it is mainly in the hands of the post-office department. 



EVOLUTION OF THE RAILWAY 



661 



A very remarkable feature of railway development is that from the begin- 
ning there has been a tendency to increased traffic, better service, and a 
steady reduction in rates. In the United States the average rates per mile 
since 1867 have been as follows : — 



Year 


Passenger, cents 


Freight, cents 


Year 


Passenger, cents 


Freight, cents 


1867 
1870 
1875 
1880 


1.994 
2.392 
2.378 
2.442 


1.925 

1.889 
1 .421 
1.232 


1885 
1890 
1895 
1896 


2.216 
2.167 
2.040 
2.019 


1.011 
0.941 

0.839 
0.806 



While the reduction in passenger rates has been comparatively small, it 
must be remembered that the safety, speed, comfort, and service have greatly 
improved. The marked reduction in freight rates has been made possible 
only by a still greater and more remarkable reduction in the cost of transpor- 
tation. This has been effected by consolidation of companies, by improve- 
ments in roadway, bridges, etc., and by the introduction of heavier trains, 
with engines of greater power and cars of greater capacity. This economy 




HAC4ERMAN PASS OX COLORADO MIDLAND R. R. 



can be still further extended. The reduction in rates has been much greater 
than that in the prices of commodities. Eates for wheat and hay, for 
instance, have decreased 23 and 20 per cent more than the market prices, and 
the rate for shipping anthracite coal to tidewater has decreased 50 per cent 
in the past ten years, while the price of the coal has decreased only 10 per 
cent. The average freight rate on the Pennsylvania Railway in 1898 was 



662 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



0.536 cent per ton per mile, while the cost was 0.369 cent. The cheapness- 
of transportation in the United States is shown by the following figures for 
1898 : — 

Passengers carried one mile 13,000,000,000 

Tons of freight carried one mile 95,000,000,000 

Revenue from passenger service #26,000,000 

Revenue from freight service $62,000,000 

Distance railway carries 1 passenger to earn $1 profit 500 miles 

Distance railway carries 1 ton to earn $1 profit 1530 miles 

Average profit per passenger (including baggage) per mile 2-10 cent 

Average profit per ton per mile 1-15 cent 

The lowest passenger rates in the world are on the Indian railways. In 
Europe the passenger rates average higher than in the United States, though 
the accommodation is inferior. 

Railway transportation has almost entirely superseded barge, canal, and 
river transportation, except in special cases. This is due to the greater 
speed, the greater efficiency of service, the greater carrying capacity, and the 
extent to which spurs and branches are built to enable cars to reach mills, 
factories, and other industrial plants. It was for a long time held that the 
low rates of water transportation exerted an influence in keeping railway 
rates down, but with the present condition of the latter this no longer holds 
good as a general proposition, especially for the limited capacity of barge 
canals. The rates established for wheat and corn from Buffalo to New York 
by rail in 1899 are about 0.23 and 0.18 cent per ton per mile, which is but 
little above the canal rates, while rail shipments are much more advanta- 
geous. 

The railway system is a vast emplo} r er of labor, directly and indirectly, 
and several million persons in the United States derive their support from 
the various railway industries, without taking into account such allied indus- 
tries as rail mills, bridge works, locomotive works, and car works, etc. The 
number of direct railway employees (exclusive of the employees of terminal 
and sleeping-car companies, fast freight lines, etc.) is over 820,000, or over 
1.2 per cent of the total population. A large proportion of these represent 
skilled labor of a high degree of intelligence. France has about 1110 em- 
ployees per mile of railway, and 10 per cent of these are women. The fig 
ures for the United States and Great Britain are as follows : — 



Miles of railway 

Number of employees 

Number of employees per 100 miles . . . 
Number of employees per cent of population 



United States 



163,597 184,428 

749,301 823,476 

479 I 449 

1.2 1.2 



Great Britain 



8,942 
109,660 

1,230 
0.4 



19,943 

381,626 

1,900 

1.0 



1895 



21,174 

465,412 

2,197 

1.2 



The railway service especially demands some better and more intimate 
relation between the employers and employees than that of the mere buying 
and selling of labor for a price. Both humanity and self-interest have led 
several railways in this country and abroad to establish relief departments, 
providing temporary financial aid in case of accident or sickness, with other 



EVOLUTION OF THE RAILWAY 



663 



forms of benefits in addition, the object being to induce men to continue per- 
manently in the employ of the road. Such associations have existed in Eng- 
land since 1850, in Canada since 1873, and in the United States since 1880, 
when one was started by the Baltimore & Ohio Railway. In 1896 there 
were six of these associations in the United States, with an aggregate of 
about 125,000 members. The six railway systems owned 15 per cent of all 
the mileage and had L'O per cent of all the railway employees in the country. 

Before closing this review of railway development, brief reference may be 
made to certain special classes of railways. 

Mountain Railways. — These include lines either isolated or forming 












VIEW NEAR VERRUGAS, ON LINE OP OROYA RAILWAY, PERU. 



part of main lines, having grades so steep as to require special means of trac- 
tion. They may be operated by (A) cables, (B) grip rails, or (C) rack rails. 
Cables are used for many short lines, but are now rarely adopted for regular 
railway working. The grip rail system was first used on the Mont Cenis 
railway in 1867, and has been used in later years in Brazil and New Zealand. 
Rack rails were used in 1848 on the incline near Madison, Indiana (U. S. A.). 
In 1866 they were used on the Mount Washington railway (U. S. A.), (with 
the Marsh rack), this being the first mountain-climbing railway. In 1885, 
the Abt rack-rail system was introduced, and is a great improvement. It has 
been used both for ordinary railway service and for special mountain lines. 

Rapid Transit. — Street or surface railways for city traffic date from 
1831, in New York, and were operated by horses until 1873, when cable trac- 
tion was introduced. Electric traction was introduced in Germany in 1881 



664 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 

and in the United States in 1884, and the growth of this system was such that 
in 1894 it was in use on 9000 miles in this country and 195 miles in Europe. 
Locomotives operated by steam, gas, compressed air, etc., have been used to 
a limited extent. For high speeds it was necessary to remove the railway 
from the street surface. The first elevated railway was built in New York 
in 1869, and now New York, Brooklyn, and Chicago have about 100 miles, 
operated by electricity and steam. The only foreign railway on this system 
is at Liverpool (England), the line being 5 miles long, and operated by elec- 
tricity. The first underground railway was opened in London in 1863, and 
that city now has several miles of such railway, mostly operated by steam 
locomotives. Two underground electric lines are in operation and another is 
being built. Budapest (Hungary) and Boston (Mass.) have also underground 
•electric railways. New York has for years needed and demanded a railway 
of this character, but political methods and extravagant demands for fran- 
chise rights have prevented the commencement of work upon the line. 

Military Railways. — Railways cannot be made available to any extent 
for tactical purposes, but are of great importance as a means of supply and 
communication. They were used by the Russians in the Crimean war (1854), 
and were prominent features in some of the campaigns of the American Civil 
War (1861-65). In the Franco-German war (1870), the German army advan- 
cing on Paris was closely followed by a military railway, and in the Soudan 
campaign of 1898-99, the British army carried with it the head of a railway 
communicating with the base of supplies on the Nile. 

Portable Railways. — These are narrow-gauge lines of light construe" 
tion, for use on plantations, in lumbering operations, on engineering con- 
struction works, and for pioneer railways. The rails are riveted to steel ties, 
forming complete sections of track, straight or curved, which can .be laid 
down, taken up, or shifted, as required. Such a line, of 24 inches gauge, was 
used to carry passengers around the grounds of the Paris Exhibition of 1889. 

Ship Railways. — These are projected as substitutes for ship canals, but 
none have been built in modern times, if we except a few small ones for 
canal boats, including one at the Columbia River rapids, in Oregon (U. S. A.). 
One Avas proposed for the Isthmus of Suez in 1860, and in 1879 Captain Eads 
strongly advocated one across Tehuantepec (Mexico), to connect the Atlan- 
tic and Pacific oceans. This line would be about 150 miles in length, and 
the cost is estimated at $50,000,000. In 1888 work was commenced on the 
Chignecto ship railway (Canada), at the head of the Bay of Fundy, but it has 
never been completed. The general principle of the system is to float the 
ship into a dock and deposit it upon a wheeled cradle of suitable form. This 
would then be raised by machinery and hauled along the railway by a num- 
ber of locomotives. 



ADVANCE IN LAW AND JUSTICE 

By LUTHEE E. HEWITT, L.B., 

Librarian of Philadelphia Law Association. 

I. International Law. — - Exclusive rights asserted in past centuries 
have been succeeded by freedom of the seas and privileges on the rivers. 
The principle back of the American guns off the Barbary coasts has pre- 
vailed. Crimes of one country against another are punishable in either. 
Extradition for nonpolitical crimes is general. Expatriation has been won 
for those who would change their country. Internal affairs of countries are 
free from interference ; but a rule may be so revolting, or so hurtful to 
foreign interests, as to justify intervention. The Monroe doctrine was inti- 
mated in the Declaration of Independence, and has developed with our coun- 
try. Regard for other nations has increased. Protectorates and spheres of 
influence are respected, while recognition of insurgent States will not be 
hurried. Devastation and weapons causing needless pain are condemned, 
while guerillas are regulated by requirement of a responsible head, a badge 
Tecognizable at a distance, and subjection to rules of war. The sick and 
wounded, attendants, and appliances are protected from intentional attack. 

Open, unfortified places are in practice spared, and ra*nsoms no longer 
extorted. Twenty-four hours are allowed for withdrawal of noncombatants 
from places to be attacked. Military occupation no longer confers sovereign 
power ; and compensation on the closing of war has been recommended for 
private property of an enemy used in military operations. 

Impartial neutrality is demanded. Nations once bound themselves for 
troops in case others went to war. This has ceased. Passage of troops 
through neutral territory is not allowed. Even sick and wounded will be 
denied if their passage would relieve a combatant's own lines ; but neutrals 
have interned such refugees. The neutral cannot allow fitting out of armed 
expeditions or enlistment of troops. Jefferson advanced international law by 
demanding Genet's recall for such offenses. Carriage of signals, dispatches, 
or persons in military operations is unneutral, and the United States insisted 
that this ruled the Trent affair. A belligerent's ship of war can remain in 
port but twenty-four hours, unless in an emergency, like need of repairs. 
Coal will be afforded only to the nearest port, nor will a new supply be fur- 
nished within three months. Statutes enforce some of these rules. Neutral 
trade is not lost except on blockade, although goods which may be put to 
military uses are liable to seizure as contraband. " Free ships, free goods," 
was long contended for ; and at last the Declaration of Paris, in 1856, pro- 
vided even further, as follows : (1) Privateering is and remains abolished. 
(2) The neutral flag covers enemy's goods, with the exception of contraband 
of Avar. (3) Neutral goods, with the exception of contraband of war, are not 
liable to capture under an enemy's flag. (4) Blockades, in order to be bind- 
ing, must be effectual. Spain, Mexico, Venezuela, and the United States 
declined to adhere to the Declaration. The United States adopted 2, 3, and 4, 



666 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX 1 " CENTURY 



and offered to agree to the abolition of privateering if noncontraband pro- 
perty of the enemy were exempted under its own flag. The United States 
and Spain refrained from privateering in the recent war. Private property 
of the enemy on land has long been exempt from capture. 

II. Law-Making Bodies. — State legislators were originally chosen from 
landed proprietors, except, perhaps, in Pennsylvania. Legislatures frecpiently 
had the selection of governors, judges, and other high officials, but the Ohio 
constitution in 1802 foreshadowed -the coming democracy. Distrust has fol- 
lowed reliance on legislatures. Their sessions have been limited in about 
half the States to an average of less than ninety days, and almost every- 




INDEPRNDENCE HALL AND SQUARE. WINTER SCENE. 



where made biennial. Increase of the members' own compensation is for- 
bidden. Their duties are carefully prescribed. Common requirements are, 
reading of bills on three days ; one subject for a bill, and that expressed 
in title ; recital of old law, upon revision ; prohibition of riders on appro- 
priations. Nearly half the States require a majority in each house of all 
members elected thereto. Constitutional restrictions on state and municipal 
indebtedness and loan followed the burdens assumed in the first exultation 
over inventions in transportation. The Pennsylvania constitution, for in- 
stance, prohibits '-local or special laws" in about thirty cases, such as in 
municipal affairs, descent of property, judicial proceedings, remitting penal- 
ties, exemption from taxation, regulating labor, chartering corporations. 
Boundaries between legislative and judicial proceedings have been simpli- 
fied ; special legislation in marriage and divorce has been forbidden ; appellate 



ADVANCE IN LAW AND JUSTICE 667 

jurisdiction has been taken from Senates once possessing it. The British 
House of Lords retains such jurisdiction, but within it sit the great judges, 
and the lay lords almost never vote on appeals. 

Payment of expenses of members was derived from England, and although 
abandoned there has continued here. Members of Congress give attendance 
remote from home, so that they receive salaries rather than compensation. 
Sums for expenses are allowed in the other American republics, in France, 
Australia, Sweden, Switzerland, chiefly in the lower houses. Some are paid 
by the local constituency, but this tends to create classes. Representatives 
to Congress were generally elected at first on the State ticket, and in some 
States this continued until the Congress in 1872 required district election. 
The Revised Statutes appoint the day of their election, and require a printed 
or written ballot. 

III. The Courts. — A feature of American jurisprudence which excites 
the wonder of foreigners is the power in the courts to declare legislative or 
executive acts void because unconstitutional. Before the Revolution the 
Rhode Island court struck down a statute contrary to the provincial charter; 
and a recent instance is the decision of the U. S. Supreme Court on the in- 
come tax. The power is exercised on individuals, without direct conflict 
between the great departments of government. The judicial power has 
otherwise widened. Civil trials without jury are frequent. In the counties 
judges exercise much administrative power. Road and bridge cases, grants 
of liquor licenses, appointments to educational and other offices, are illustra- 
tions. In what has been termed " government by injunction," functions both 
of the executive and of the jury have been assumed. Perhaps this justifies 
the demand that all judges shall be elected by the people. Frequently the 
choice of judges was originally by the legislature, or by the governor, alone 
or with the approval of the senate. The judicial tenure of office has gener- 
ally been lengthened to a term insuring a long service. In Pennsylvania, a 
supreme court judge holds office twenty-one years, a county judge ten years. 
Age limit prevails in some States. In a democracy, it is not surprising to 
find the doctrine sometimes asserted that juries in criminal cases are judges 
both of law and fact. In certain civil cases, the jury is a crude but powerful 
•engine for holding corporations to strict responsibility for the citizens' safety, 
although excessive or unfounded verdicts are to be deplored. Much of the 
old law of deodands has force to-day in subtler form. A feature to note in 
passing is the duty imposed on the judge to answer before the jury points of 
instruction framed by counsel. 

IV. Civil Procedure. — Twenty-nine States and Territories rejoice in 
escape from puzzling "classifications by substitution of simple statements. 
Extreme separation of law and equity had made the old condition worse. 
Equity might often soften legal principles, or law lend vigor to equity. 
Much of this has now been done ; had been done, in fact, in Pennsylvania, 
from early days. Its enforcement of equitable rights through remedies at law 
was largely followed in the English Judicature Act of 1873 abolishing forms 
of actions at law and interblending law and equity. This statute has been 
copied largely in British colonies. England abolished the cumbrous system 
of real actions in 1834, and substituted simpler remedies for assertion of 
title. 



G68 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

The simplicity of present procedure is accompanied by ability to reach de- 
cision more promptly, and an old reproach has been greatly lessened. 

V. Codification. — The New York Kevised Statutes of 1828 embraced 
nearly the entire civil procedure, and in 1848 a " Code of Procedure " was 
adopted, although the original draftsman, David Dudley Field, complained 
bitterly of changes. Forty-two States now have more or less complete codes 
of practice ; and criminal codes likewise are numerous. Codification of the 
branches of substantive law may be anticipated. Something of this is going 
on in England. The Bill of Sales Act, the Employers' Liability Act, the Bills 
of Exchange Act, the Public Health (Scotland) Act of 1897, the Land Trans- 
fer Act of the same year, are instances. In Pennsylvania, there are codelets 
like the Evidence Act of 1887, or the Building Law for Philadelphia of 1893. 
Instances could be multiplied. A code intended for all the States on Negoti- 
able Instruments has been prepared by commissioners, and has been adopted 
in New York, Connecticut, Colorado, and Florida. In Great Britain there 
has not been general codification, whereas the continental systems run largely 
that way, even in substantive law, being based on the Roman law. 

VI. Criminal Jurisprudence. — The grand jury is no longer grand in 
many States ; indeed, less than twelve members suffice in some ; and their ser- 
vice may even be dispensed with under some Western constitutions. Individ- 
ual malice has been avoided by the creation of public prosecuting attorneys. 
" Standing aside jurors " resulted from 33 Edward L, denying government 
challenge except for cause. It has been generally abolished, and the prosecu- 
tion equalized by a number of peremptory challenges. Pennsylvania retains 
the old practice. Prisoners may now testify, but refusal is not to weigh 
against them. The statute 7 William III. allowed counsel in treason cases r 
but England did not extend the privilege to trials for other felonies until 
1836. The courts in mitigation permitted counsel to prompt prisoners with 
questions. Penn's charter gave prisoners privileges of witnesses and coun- 
sel, and this is now universal in American constitutions. Many States pro- 
vide counsel for prisoners without means, some with compensation. " Stand- 
ing mute " has become equivalent to a plea of not guilty. Unanimity in a 
verdict is essential to conviction of crime above misdemeanor, except in 
Utah, and there it is limited to capital cases. In civil and in minor criminal 
cases about a dozen constitutions in the far West or Southwest either recog- 
nize verdict by proportion of jury or else empower the legislature so to do. 
England refuses criminal appeals, but in this country they are allowed. The 
courts of this country have never been subservient to military passion, and 
all friends of the great French Republic must rejoice at the courage of the 
Court of Cassation in the Dreyfus case. The English law inflicted death 
for 160 crimes, some great and many otherwise, about the period of our Revo- 
lution, and in 1819 this number had become 200. American jurisprudence 
never had such stain of blood, yet 10 crimes were punishable with death 
in Massachusetts, and 20 in Delaware, at the time of the Revolution, and the 
pillory, stocks, shears, branding-irons, and lash were busy. Horrible pri- 
sons existed, filled with every foulness and immorality. The older peni- 
tentiary system has been modified in 20 States by the parole system under 
police supervision, and in 4 the policy of indeterminate sentences within 
fixed limits and ages has been adopted. Bertillon and other methods of 



ADVANCE IN LAW AND JUSTICE 



669 



identification have greatly lessened crime in England. The law of deodand, 
whereby the value of an object causing accidental death was forfeited for 
charities, was abolished in England in 1846. Societies to prevent cruelty to 
children, or to animals, attest the advance of refinement and humanity. 




HON. MELVILLE W. FULLER. 
(Chief Justice U. S. Supreme Court.) 



VII. Capital Punishment. — In England, treason and felony, except 
petty larceny and mayhem, were punishable with death. The fiction by which 
males who could read were supposed to be of the clergy saved first offenders, 
who escaped with branding. In the eighteenth century, the fiction was for- 
bidden, and death imposed on additional offenses, so that 160 crimes were 
so punishable. In 1826, the efforts of Sir Samuel Romilly and Sir James 



<370 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

Mackintosh, and later of Sir John Russell, resulted in a more merciful spirit, 
and since 1861 murder, treason, and firing of the great dock yards, have 
been the only capital offenses. The American colonies were more humane, 
yet Massachusetts punished 10 and Delaware 20 crimes with death. Since 
the Revolution imprisonment has been the general penalty. In Maine, Wis- 
consin, and Colorado capital punishment has been abolished altogether ; in 
Rhode Island, except where murder is committed by a life prisoner ; in 
Michigan, except for treason. In some States, as in Ohio, the jury may 
avert the death penalty. New York and Iowa, after experiments, restored 
capital punishment. The federal law imposes death for murder, piracy, rob- 
bery on the high seas, rape, treason. The introduction of degrees of murder 
has reduced the number of executions. In New York, electrocution has 
been substituted for hanging. Capital punishment has been abolished or 
qualified in the Argentine Republic, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, 
Guatemala, Holland, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland (in eight 
cantons), and in Venezuela. 

VIII. Police Power. — The citizen of the present day is protected by 
the police power to a degree which, perhaps, would have seemed marvelous 
a century ago. The sale of food is governed both in quality and quantity ; 
building laws prescribe yards for light and air, height and thickness of walls, 
and forbid wooden buildings in many populous centres. Explosives are 
placed under strict regulations. Health laws protect from impurity of food 
and from pestilence, establish quarantines, deny the importation of rags, 
cattle, etc., likely to breed disease ; medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, and nurs- 
ing are protected from ignorance ; immigration laws exclude persons or races 
deemed uncongenial or objectionable ; railroads are subjected to provisions 
promoting safety, comfort, and impartiality of service ; lotteries, gambling, 
threatening letters are forbidden; game laws preserve the various species 
from extinction ; women and children are guarded by special laws. Almost 
the entire body of this division of law is new to this century, and much of 
it is recent. 

IX. Married Women. — In 1800, a husband could appropriate his wife's 
personal property not held in trust, and use her realty while he lived. Ex- 
cept for necessaries or for her separate estate, she could not contract. Her 
emancipation began in 1839, in Mississippi, and now her property, under the 
statutory interests secured to her by laws generally prevailing, is hers free 
from control or interference. This statutory estate includes property inher- 
ited, or derived by purchase or gift, or in some States by labor. The wife's 
power to contract has been extended, and in some States has little restriction 
beyond perhaps inability to become surety. Before this era, some States, 
acting on a London custom, had allowed feme sole traders in cases of mari- 
ners' wives, or of desertion or neglect. 

X. Children. — Regulation of the labor of children in hours and employ- 
ments is usual, debarring them from workshops and factories at certain ages 
and from occupations dangerous to their morals, as in theatricals, circuses, 
rag picking, mendicancy, street music. Laws prohibit their entrance into 
gambling, or worse, houses, into pool rooms, or unaccompanied into dance or 
concert halls, roller rinks, vaudeville theatres. Minnesota excludes them 
from criminal trials. Sale of liquor to minors is prohibited. Numerous 



ADVANCE IN LAW AND JUSTICE 671 

recent statutes prohibit sales of cigarettes, cigars, or tobacco, and Utah and 
West Virginia forbid sales of opium. Oregon and Rhode Island prohibit 
their public use of tobacco. New Hampshire, Indiana, and Connecticut 
forbid children over three in almshouses. North Carolina makes it a mis- 
demeanor to leave a child under seven, and unattended, exposed to fire. 
Prohibiting employment inconsistent with school attendance is usual. Com- 
pulsory education exists in twenty-nine States and two Territories, and largely 
throughout Europe and the colonies. Fourteen is the more frequent limit of 
age. Children's welfare now determines their custody, rather than the rights 
of either parent. Laws in some States protect children more or less from 
wills made before their birth by parents. Many States provide that bastards 
may inherit from their mother or from each other, and she from them, and 
that their parents' marriage legitimates them. 

XL Real Estate. — Ownership of land is no longer embarrassed by joint 
tenancies, nor need conveyancing resort to cumbrous fine and recovery ; while 
transfer has been further lightened by title companies pending the adoption, 
likely, of the Torrens system of registration and certificate. Democracy has 
rejected distinctions of sex or age in inheritance, and the half-blood may 
share in many States after certain degrees. Disability of aliens to hold lands 
has been removed in some States, in others there are limitations in acres, 
value, or time, while in some disability ceases on declaration of intention to 
become a citizen. The English doctrine of tacking, whereby ownership of 
earlier and later incumbrances cut out intermediate titles, mortgages, etc., is 
inconsistent with the American recording acts. 

XII. Copyright. — After printing became general, the author received 
some, if inadequate, protection, in England through the Stationers' Company, 
or sometimes through particular privilege : in continental countries, through 
such privilege. The statute of Anne confined him to such years, etc., as it 
specified, and the courts have decided with hesitation that there was no copy- 
right at common law. The statutory rights have varied. Since 1831 the 
copyright period in this country is 28 years, with 14 more if author, widow, 
or children are living at expiration of first term ; and in England since 
1812 it is 28 years or author's life, whichever is longei\ 

The first known copyright directed to an author was granted by Venice in 
1491. In 1791 France allowed copyright to all dramatists, extending it in 
1793 to authors in general. Countries in sympathy with France adopted the 
policy. Prussia in 1794 extended copyright to authors represented by pub- 
lishers at the Frankfort and Leipzig book fairs. General protection has now 
come about, aided by consolidation of European states into great nations. 
International copyright began with separate treaties ; and the movement 
culminated in the Berne Convention of 1887, participated in by Germany, 
Belgium. Spain, France, Hayti, Italy, Switzerland, Tunis, Great Britain, Li- 
beria. Authors resident in any country which was a party to the Convention 
may have copyright in the other countries. The United States did not join, 
although it had and since has had treaties with a few nations exchanging 
such protection. The International Copyright Law of 1891, however, pro- 
tects foreign authors but not foreign publishers, it being required that the 
printing shall be done in this country. 

XIII. Admiralty. — The difference between the majestic rivers of Amer- 
43 



672 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

ica and English streams was recognized in the case of " The Genesee Chief," 
wherein the Supreme Court rejected the English doctrine that admiralty has 
no jurisdiction except on the seas or where the tides ebb and flow. This has 
^insured uniformity in the regulations of travel and commerce, and has pro- 
tected such waters from local interference. International rules to prevent 
collisions at sea have been joined in by the United States. By acts of 1851 
and 1884, Congress relieved innocent shipowners of liability for merchandise 
destroyed by fire, and provided that liability in case of collision, embezzle- 
ment by crew, etc., shall not exceed the owner's interest. The Harter Act 
of 1893 provides that on due diligence neither owners nor charterers shall be 
liable for faults in navigation or in management, nor for perils of the sea, 
defects in goods, etc., but prohibits agreements relieving from liability for 
injuries caused by neglect in fitting out, provisioning and manning the ves- 
sel, stowing the cargo, or in caring for or delivery of the same. Parliament, 
in 1890, protected seamen from commercial greed by requiring load lines to 
be marked on vessels at a height fixed by the Board of Trade. 

XIV. Corporations. — The source of corporate life was formerly the 
king ; to-day, the charters are virtually the general corporation law, and 
special incorporation is forbidden. For a season, minor amendments for par- 
ticular companies were tolerated, but constitutions are forbidding even these. 
Applications for charters must state such particulars as name, nature, and 
place of business, amount of stock, limit of indebtedness, number and names 
of directors. Annual reports must be lodged with the tax authorities. 

Doctrines respecting corporations have wonderfully changed. The Dart- 
mouth College case held that charters were contracts and could not be im- 
paired ; and thereafter, by constitution or otherwise, the States provided that 
all new charters should be subject to alteration or repeal, although even this 
does not authorize radical change of corporate character. American law has 
recognized advantage of freedom in execution of corporate affairs. It has 
dispensed with the burdensome requirement of seal to contracts, and even in 
England the corporate seal is unnecessary, unless in unusual transactions. 
The American courts uphold negotiable 'notes and bonds given in author- 
ized business. The company is confined to the business for which it was 
created, although a cautious tolerance exists in respect to related enterprises ; 
and mortgages may be acquired if for debts contracted previously and not as 
a device. The old theory was that a company could not be held for misfeas- 
ance, since it could not authorize its agents to commit wrong; but corpora- 
tions are now held for many torts sanctioned by them, such as trespass, 
assault and battery, infringement of patents, negligence, and even fraud and 
libel. Exemplary damages may be awarded against them. One or another 
kind has even been subjected to indictment, in cases of nuisance, violation of 
Sunday law, maintenance of disorderly house, habitual omission of lights or 
signals, etc. They may be guilty of contempt. They may be punished by 
penalties and forfeitures. 

A corporation outside its own State cannot exceed either its own charter or 
the power granted like companies of the other State. Connecting railways 
are sometimes adopted in each of several States, but the parts remain foreign 
to each other as respects jurisdiction in the federal courts. Foreign corpora- 
tions are subject to the police power, but not to interference by the State in 



ADVANCE IN LAW AND JUSTICE 



673 



their interstate commerce, except Congress so authorizes. Companies not 
engaged in interstate commerce nor in governmental service may have condi- 
tions placed upon their entry into a State, and may be practically excluded 
by taxation. Property within the foreign State is alone taxable there, but 
the value of the franchise may be considered. Usually, statements are re- 
quired showing location of agent, names of officers, etc. Contracts made 
before compliance are differently regarded, being void in some States, and 
only until compliance in some others, and in some not void at all where 




STATE, WAR AND NAVY BUILDING, WASHINGTON, D. C. 



penalty is imposed. Some States seek revenue by lax laws inviting outside 
companies. Thus, by Delaware law of 1899, companies need not oblige them- 
selves to keep their original books nor hold their meetings there, assessment 
beyond subscription is forbidden, and taxation is light. 

In 1825 and 1827 the free organization of trades-unions and banking asso- 
ciations was authorized, and thus was introduced into English jurisprudence 
the principle of free association familiar to the Roman Republic. In 1838, 
but more especially in 1844, limited partnerships with transferable shares 
were authorized by general law ; and in 1862 freedom from liability beyond 
subscription was somewhat recognized. A form of partnership, societe ano- 
nyme, has been known in France for six hundred years, and by law of 1867 
may be organized without special leave. The managers alone assume full 
responsibility, and the association bears now a company name. Germany 
adopted the principle of general incorporation in 1870, as have the greater 
nations, excepting Russia and Austria. 

So early as 1784 New York enacted a general incorporation law for 



674 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

churches, and for libraries in 1796. In 1811, woolen, glass, and some other 
manufactures were thus favored. The principle widened out, was adopted 
elsewhere, and became quite general by 1850. Pennsylvania adopted the 
policy in 1874, although its religious, library and charitable organizations had 
enjoyed such law since 1791. 

XV. Religion. — Scorned, lashed, thrown into prison, his tongue cut out, 
banished to savage woods, such was the fate of the Massachusetts Quaker 
among the first settlers, and Roger Williams shared little better. A long 
stride had been taken when, in 1691, the Massachusetts charter proclaimed 
liberty of conscience for all " except papists." Then was the brave and gentle 
Penn securing religious liberty to all confessing one God. Yet much further 
progress was essential. Roman Catholics were excluded from office except 
in New York and Maryland ; while even in Pennsylvania no Jew could sit in 
the legislature. Most of the States required some religious test for higher 
offices ; Massachusetts allowed no voters or officials outside of the Congrega- 
tional church; and church membership was essential in Connecticut and 
New Hampshire. In 1776 Pennsylvania admitted to the legislature any who 
believed in God and in a future state of rewards and punishments. Massa- 
chusetts threw down the barriers to office in 1780, except that until 1821 the 
governor should be of the Christian faith ; but office-holding was limited to 
Protestants in North Carolina until 1835, and in New Hampshire until 1877. 
Jews received the same rights as other sects in Connecticut in 1843, in Mary- 
land in 1825. The Virginia Bill of Rights declared that all are entitled to 
the free exercise of religion, and a few years afterwards, in 1786, proclaimed 
further in words written by Jefferson that religious opinions shall never 
affect civil capacities, and that no man can be compelled to support religious 
worship. The Lake region was secured from molestation for religious senti- 
ments by the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, and the Constitution not only 
secures all from such interference by Congress, but prohibits religious test 
for federal offices or establishment of religion by Congress. South Carolina 
made the Episcopal the State church in 1776, but dropped establishment in 
1790. Support of religion was likewise abolished in Maryland in 1810, but 
continued in Massachusetts until 1833 ; and New Hampshire authorizes 
public Protestant teachers of religion. Maryland, Kentucky, and Tennessee 
exclude clergymen from office. Political hierarchies and polygamy are not 
within constitutional protections. Courts have declared Christianity part of 
the common law; but in present law its force is in its principles. Christian 
institutions, in common with other religious or charitable agencies, are favored 
in policies and exemptions; and blasphemies, like railings in general, are 
forbidden. Bible reading in public schools is generally discretionary with 
the school board, although held illegal in Wisconsin ; but religious garbs may 
not be worn in such schools by teachers. A public hospital may not be 
erected on sectarian ground. 

The English corporation and test acts excluded from office all without the 
established church, until 9 George IV. 

XVI. Summary of Advance. — Increased respect for the rights of others, 
both individually and as nations, characterizes the law of this century, and 
may be perceived in every direction. It has created a new international law, 
developed democratic institutions at home and abroad, almost revolutionized 




PORTIA AND BASSANIO. 

(Trial Scene from "Merchant of Venice.") 



676 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

criminal jurisprudence, extended the police power in every direction, and 
secured freedom of conscience and separation of church and state. It has 
emancipated woman, thrown a protecting care over children, and favored 
charities, asylums, houses of refuge. Imprisonment for honest debts has 
been abolished, and the wretched sight of debtors imprisoned for paltry sums 
no longer reproaches society. Homestead and exemption laws preserve the 
family. Honest bankrupts are again lifted up in hope. The legal means of 
settlement and recovery of rights has been greatly expedited. England has 
followed America in making lands assets for payment of debts ; and claims 
against the State have received recognition in some of the States and under 
act of Congress, and likewise in England. Barriers excluding persons as wit- 
nesses have been broken down, first in Connecticut in 1848, next in England 
in 1851, and now there is little exclusion unless the adversary has died. 
Something had been done before in compelling answers to written interroga- 
tories, but with a weakness and lack of logic that should have ridiculed the 
whole exclusion. Promotion of uniformity of laws has engaged the attention 
of State commissioners, who have drafted a code concerning negotiable instru- 
ments which has been adopted in four States. Constitutional amendment 
has afforded an entire race opportunity to develop from the low estate of 
slavery into such condition as the future shall manifest. Questions of civil 
rights, due process of law, and of equal protection and privilege, are con- 
stantly bringing State laws before the federal courts, as do questions of inter- 
state commerce. Anti-pool and anti-trust enactments mark both federal and 
State law, and lately have broken up the alliance of the trans -Missouri 
transportation companies. Inheritance and succession taxes were imposed in 
Pennsylvania in 1826, and now are found in some dozen States. The pro- 
gressive feature, or increase of rate with increase of estate, has been sus- 
tained by high authority. Congress has imposed such taxes, but its power to 
do so is in dispute before the United States Supreme Court. 

In the early days of the republic property requirements existed both for 
office and for voting. New States came in with manhood suffrage established 
either by law or custom. Original States threw open the polls, — Maryland 
in 1810, Connecticut in 1818, New York in 1821, Massachusetts in 1822. 
The white labor of Virginia was denied the suffrage in 1830, but gained it in 
1850. Similar movement in England is marked by the Reform Bill of 1832 ; 
and now manhood suffrage is universal in Germany, Erance, and Greece, and 
wellnigh so in England. 



EVOLUTION OF BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS 

By MICHAEL J. BROWN, 

Secretary of Building Association League of Penrm. 

I. GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 

" Do not forget to pay your dues to-night," is an expression familiar to the 
occupants of fifty thousand Philadelphia homes, one hundred and fifty thou- 
sand Pennsylvania homes, and six hundred and fifty thousand households in 
the United States. This means that nearly seven hundred thousand families 
are contributing towards gaining homes of their own through Building and 
Loan Associations. The entire membership is nearly seventeen hundred 
thousand, of whom fully four hundred thousand are women and children. 

The picture " Paying their Dues " is a representative one, and in Philadel- 
phia there are four hundred and seventy-five such gatherings every year. 
The Philadelphia associations generally meet once every month, but in some 
parts of the State, and in other States, many societies meet weekly, so there 
are fully ten thousand such gatherings every twelve months in the United 
States. 

The women have shares in their own right, and the children are either 
paying dues for their parents or for themselves, the father or mother acting 
as trustee. The boys and girls know exactly what nights the associations 
meet, and are generally on hand with their money long before the officers are 
ready to receive the funds and give receipts in the pass books. 

What is the meaning of these gatherings ? To enable every member to 
become his own landlord — to purchase homes for themselves, by paying 
their money into a joint concern for a few years until each one has saved 
enough, with gains added, to buy a home, and in the meantime the entire 
receipts being loaned to the members to gain homes in advance of the final 
reckoning or maturity of the shares. 

The members have well learned the principle that money makes money 
if well used, that if many pay rent for the benefit of the few, through the 
building association the many may combine together so as to put the rents 
into their own pockets. 

II. THE SYSTEM. 

For convenience, "a share" is the payment of $1.00 a month, five shares 
$5.00, and so on. The final value of a share is arbitrarily fixed at $200. 
The money received is promptly loaned to the members, on which the bor- 
rowers pay $1.00 per month interest on every $200 borrowed, until the final 
value of $200 is reached, which occurs in twelve years or less. 

Payments $144.00 

Gains 56.00 

Final value $200.00 

A member may have borrowed $2000 from the association on ten shares of 



678 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

stock ($200 being the limit loaned on each share), and the shares having 
matured, or become worth $2000, his loan of $2000 is canceled and his 
home is free. The member who has not borrowed receives $200 in cash for 
every share he holds. 

The building association in its simplest form, and as it existed in Philadel- 
phia for many years, took all its members in at one time, and the members 
paid from $2 to $20 each every month until the shares matured. At matur- 
ity all the borrowers received canceled mortgages, and the non-borrowers 
cash for their shares, and the, society then closed its affairs. Hundreds of 
such associations have wound up their affairs successfully. 

Very many associations are now working on the permanent plan ; that is, 
they admit new members every six months or every year, the first set being 
the first to mature, and so on, one set going out every year and a new batch 
coming in. 

Each series is a separate association so far as the dues are concerned, but 
the total gains are divided so as to give each dues dollar invested a like rate 
per cent per annum for the time of investment. There is really- no positive 
or final division of profits. The gains are kept in a lump sum, and the divi- 
sion is on paper only for the purpose of showing the progress made towards 
maturity. When a set of shares matures, its portion of the gain is taken 
from the accumulated profits and divided to the stock that has reached its 
final value. 

Some associations count all the loans as assets and all the dues and gains 
as liabilities. In such societies the borrower pays interest on his full loan 
until the end, and gets credit for profit on his dues until one account cancels 
the other. 

Other associations, at the end of each year, deduct the dues paid in from 
the loans and charge interest on the net amount only of the loan. By the 
latter system the borrowers' payments decrease every year, but it requires a 
longer time to finally cancel the loan than by the former system. 

When there is a demand for money, and more than one member is anxious 
to secure it, the funds are offered at auction, and the member who bids the 
highest premium secures the prize. 

The bidding is generally done by offering so many cents per share per 
month above the required interest. If a member secures $2000 at 10 cents 
per share premium on ten shares, his monthly payments are : — 

Dues per month $10.00 

Interest per month 10.00 

Premium per month 1.00 

Total $ 21.00 

These payments continue until the shares mature. The dues are the con- 
tributed capital, and the interest and premiums are the gains. 

III. THEIR EARLY HISTORY. 

Their early history in England seems to date back as far as 1781. In Mr. 
Landlord's " Century of Birmingham Life " mention is made of certain pro- 
posals for establishing a society for building on lands belonging to William 
Jennings. Esq. The society was organized by rules or articles, similar in 
some respects to those employed by the building societies of to-day. 



68© TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

Dr. John Henry Gray, in his "History of the Laws, Manners, and Customs 
of the People of China," describes some money-lending societies which seem 
to partake in some measure of the character of building associations, at least 
in their cooperative and equitable features. He tells us that these societies 
are called " Lee Woee," and were instituted by a person named Pong Koong, 
an official of great wealth, who flourished 200 b. c, during the Hun dynasty. 
The money was loaned to members and returned in monthly installments 
with interest. Each member was compelled to contribute to the fund a sum 
equal to that which he contributed at the first meeting. One of the rules 
was, " Each member shall deposit in a lottery box, placed on a table, a 
tender or bid for the money, setting forth the rate of interest which he is 
disposed to pay on the amount in question ; that the tenders shall be taken 
out of the box by the president, and the highest bidder takes the loan." 
When two bids were alike the first bidder took the loan. A fine was charged 
for non-payment of dues. 

IV. AMERICAN ASSOCIATIONS. 

There is no evidence other than that Frankford, now a part of Philadelphia 
proper, saw the first building society that was organized in the United States. 
It was called the " Oxford Provident Building Association," and was started 
in 1831, sixty-eight years ago. It closed its affairs in June, 1841. The 
second Frankford society, of the same name, was organized in February of 
1841, and ran out in August, 1852. Isaac Whitelock was president, Samuel 
Pilling treasurer, and Isaac Shallcross secretary, of the first association ; and 
Henry Taylor president, Isaac Shallcross secretary, and William Overton 
treasurer, of the second association. 

The Holmesburg Building Association was organized in January, 1842, and 
closed its business satisfactorily to the members, June 25, 1853. John B. 
Duff, a lumber counter by trade, was instrumental in organizing the first 
building society within the compactly built up city of Philadelphia, in the 
year 1847. The name of the society was the " Kensington Building Asso- 
ciation." The society issued five hundred shares of stock in one series, 
and wound up its affairs in ten years and two months after it was organized. 
The first advertisement of any building and loan association, so far as can be 
ascertained, appeared in the Philadelphia " Public Ledger," February 5, 1847, 
and called for a meeting of the "Kensington." Mr. Duff died in 1883, and a 
few months before that event he presented to the writer a document now 
known as "The Old Yellow Poster." It is the call for the first building 
society in Old Philadelphia, a copy of which is herewith presented. 

Mr. Duff seldom, if ever, held forth in public, but his efficient work was 
done by taking individual cases and converting them to the benefits of obtain- 
ing homes for themselves. Frequently he has been seen on a pile of lumber 
with chalk in hand, demonstrating a problem in building society arithmetic 
to converts to this system of saving. 

There has been scarcely a great mind in the country that has not moved 
the lips to say some good word for the building society cause. Henry Ward 
Beecher in a sermon said, — 

" I think that a young man who places before himself not a speculation, 
not a fortune, but some object that he means to achieve, who selects a par- 



MEETING ! 

KENSINGTON 

BU ILDING ASSOCIATI ON 

The Subscribers being desirous of forming an Association for the purpose of assisting the 
members thereof in the erection of Dwelling Houses, or such other Real Estate as they shall 
deem most advantageous, have concluded to hold a Meeting for that purpose 

on fbiday ran, m mi m, 

AT 7 O'CLOCK, 

#11 the Kensington Engine Hath 

On Queen Street, ab^ve Marlborough Sf 

Where the objects of the Association will be laid before the Meeting. Citizens generally, 

are invited to attend. 

Ralph Pilling, Abr. P. "Eyre, Henry Mercer, 

Joseph Smith, Ed. W. Gorgas, George Mattis, 

John Bicrly, Alfred Fitler, Michael Collar, 

Johu B. Duff, Alb't T. Eggleton Edward Wester, 

Henry Shcrmer, Albert Engle, Henry Miller, 

John Vcrdear, And. Flanders, William Ellis, 

Samuel Wensell, Thomas Bennett, John Hearney, 

Samuel T. Hay, J. R. Fullertou, Jos. B. Matlack, 

Henry Lane, Charles Tryou, Saml. Biedaman, 

Howard Bowman Samuel Parcels, J. Shilingburg, 

Andrew Himes, Edward Owens, James Hill, 

Ricu'd. Fordham Jacob Jones, George Cramp, 

David Guyant, John Nevling, George Coleman, 

Geo. Fordham, Henry Mosser, John Fordham. 

Henry Kriener, Geo. Kennerd, 



January 21, 1847. 



Printed at Boyle's cheap Printing Establishment, corner of Second and Brown street* 

CALL. FOR FIRST BUILDING ASSOCIATION IN PHILADELPHIA. 



682 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

ticular piece of property that he would like to own, and aims steadily at 
acquiring it and works diligently for it, and saves for it, will be almost sure 
to succeed. I will say that every young man in a city, either through the 
instrumentality of a building association when there is one, or independently, 
when such an association does not exist, and when at last, having toiled and 
waited patiently, the debt is paid and the piece of property is earned, is a 
great deal richer than the assessor knows him to be. The assessor goes 
around and puts a valuation upon his property for the purpose of taxing it. 
But, ah, those habits of industry and self-control ; those wise measurings, 
which we call economy, — all these the man has gained over and above the 
property. He has saved himself from a thousand temptations. He has pro- 
tected himself against remorseless vices, which would have gnawed out his 
marrow. And though you call it merely amassing property, it may be amass- 
ing manhood. It is one step on the upward way." 

State officials who closely examine the workings of these societies never 
seem to tire in their praise. Superintendent Kilburn, of New York, in his 
last annual report, refers to the conservative and honestly managed building 
association as follows : — 

"During the past year associations of this class alone have returned to 
withdrawing members dues and profits amounting to $8, 014,039. During 
the same period no less than fifty-seven associations were engaged in the pay- 
ment of matured shares, and $829,752 were paid to members who had faith- 
fully continued payments through a series of years, and at last saw their con- 
fidence justified. But these sums are of small consequence when we consider 
the comfortable homes that have been erected, and the families that have 
been permanently and comfortably housed through the facilities for frugality 
and thrift, for self-denial and saving afforded by them. My attention was 
recently called to a village of the State in which it was said that nearly one- 
third of the houses had been erected through the agency of a small local 
association. 

" Nor is this an exceptional case, unless the element of proportion be taken 
into consideration. In nearly all the cities of the State, and in many of the 
large villages, there are associations that are models of their kind, and are 
worthy of the admiration and support of every good citizen. 

" Their educational influence, too, can hardly be over estimated. The 
workingman who joins such an association takes part in the administration 
of its affairs and learns his first lesson in finance from those of larger expe- 
rience, and, who perhaps, touches elbow with the lawyer, the merchant, and 
the minister as they discuss the safety of an investment, or proper amend- 
ment to the articles of association, and will not lend a ready ear to teachers 
of socialism, of class hatred, or of financial heresies." 

As shown elsewhere, the members of the New York societies have over 
$ 37,000,000 invested. The Building Association League of Pennsylvania, an 
organization of twenty-six years' standing, composed of the most active asso- 
ciations in the State, some years ago proclaimed a " Declaration of Prin- 
ciples," from which we quote : — 

" The local building societies of the State of Pennsylvania are true cooper- 
ative organizations, transacting no business with the public, and not amenable 
to laws affecting financial institutions that have dealings with the public. 



BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS 683 

They encourage thrift among the wage-workers, help to create taxable pro- 
perty in its best form — real estate, educate their members in business methods 
and teach them both how to save and how to invest money. 

" By this service they have created a state police of tens of thousands of 
home owners, more efficient for the protection of life and property than a 
standing army. 

" They have lessened the cost for the maintenance of alms-houses, prisons, 
and asylums, by teaching men and women to be self-helpful and self-reliant, 
and in that way have benefited the State to an amount far exceeding any 
sum that could be gathered by taxation. 

" The work of the societies is done gratuitously by the directors, and in no 
other way could they be maintained, the profits resulting from the services 
of men who, though they have never posed as philanthropists, are engaged in 
the best kind of charity, helping men and women who help themselves." 

Joseph H. Paist, a prominent Philadelphia building association expert, has 
been president of the league since it was organized. 

Other States have leagues, and they are all combined as a National 
League, whose motto is " The American Home is the Safeguard of American 
Liberty." 

At certain intervals the national government, States, cities, and hundreds 
of industrial enterprises distribute earnings and accrued interest to those 
entitled to the same. The vast sums of money drawn out of thousands of 
banks and banking institutions represent millions of dollars of canceled 
debts. Within a few days after these distributions take place, at least nine 
tenths of this money finds its way back into the strong boxes that parted 
with it. One tenth of the money is, perhaps, held in the pockets of the peo- 
ple, to be gradually disbursed for current needs until the next pay arrives. 
I do not remember having received a statement or statistical report referring 
to the building association share in these distributions. 

True, there are no set dates for building societies to part with money, but 
in Pennsylvania alone these cooperative companies distribute $20,000,000 
annually in matured shares and withdrawals. This is no insignificant sum. 
To-day their accumulated wealth (mostly savings of people in the humbler 
ranks of life) is over $107,000,000. and in the United States fully $600,000,- 
000. The annual outgo for canceled shares is about $100,000,000, or fully 
$8,000,000 every month. 

Since these associations were organized, quite one thousand five hundred 
million dollars have been returned to the members in the value of homes 
clear of debt and in cash for withdrawn and matured shares. Despite these 
vast disbursements, there has been a gradual increase in their assets from 
year to year. 

Beginning with one association in 1831, their number increased in a small 
way until probably not over two hundred societies existed in 1860. From 
that date until the present moment it is estimated that over 8000 have been 
organized throughout the land, increasing at a rapid rate every year, and 
leaving at present, after closing out a great number, nearly 5000 active asso- 
ciations distributed among the States as follows : — 



684 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



States. 


No. of 
Societies. 


Membership. 


Assets. 




1200 

761 

682 

300 

492 

317 

123 

255 

138 

87 

70 

69 

34 

68 

15 

33 

228 


300,000 

297,787 

180,000 

116,739 

137,510 

102,902 

65,419 

49,462 

19,153 

25,000 

20,497 

9.000 

6,166 

11,821 

11,208 

8,230 

281,284 


$111,714,871 
99,770,161 


Ohio 




73,309,192 
41,038,934 
37,624,418 
37,385,642 
24,507,843 


Indiana 

Massachusetts .> 




22,497,700 




17,938,100 
6,594,778 
6, 495, 31 17 
4,260,666 
3,771,354 


Iowa 








3,554 788 


Connecticut 


3,243,935 


Maine 


2,912,963 

104,320,367 


Other States 




Totals 


4872 


1,642,178 


$600,941,019 





It is estimated that of the above named membership over 325,000 are 
women. Of the $600,000,000 of assets, at least $100,000,000 is a gain credit 
to the sharer. It is believed that an average of at least three members of a 
family contribute toward the payment of the dues and interest, and although 
seventeen hundred thousand names are on the books, nearly five million per- 
sons actually contribute. 

These societies have done more to teach the people practical thrift than 
any known device ever promulgated. Thrift is described as "good hus- 
bandly, economical management in regard to property, success and advance 
in the acquisition of property, increase of worldly goods, vigorous growth, as 
a plant." 

" He is a good wagoner that can turn in a little room." — Bishop J. Hall. 

"Economy is the parent of integrity, of liberty and of ease, and the beauti- 
ful sister of temperance, of cheerfulness and health. AVithout economy none 
can be rich, and with it few can be poor." — Dr. Johnson. 

While these literary economical truths proclaimed in all ages by wise men, 
which they themselves very seldom knew how to put into practical use, have 
no doubt caused millions to think and wonder how to do it, they, altogether, 
have not built half as many rounds in the practical ladder of " thrift " as the 
poor workingman who successfully induces his next door neighbor to save 
one dollar a month out of his waste money, and with it subscribe for one 
share of stock in a well-managed building society. Building society ad- 
vocates have done much inducing, but always in a practical way. They have 
not merely proclaimed that " economy is wealth ; " that " the best security 
for civilization is the dwelling," but they have taken the arm of their friend 
and neighbor and have led him to the society meeting-room and shown him 
just how they saved their own money. They have also taken them into their 
own homes and told them, " This is my own home, paid for, or nearly so, 
through the aid of the building society." In this way lessons in the practical 
benefit of thrift are daily given. 



BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS 685 

"Examples demonstrate the possibility of success," said Colton many years 
ago. 

Alexander Dumas brought the matter home to the door of every man when 
he said, " All the world cries, ' Where is the man who will save us ? We want 
a man ! ' Don't look for this man, you have him at hand. This man — it is 
you — it is I — it is each of us. . . . How to constitute one's self a man ? 
Nothing harder if one knows not how to will it ; nothing easier if one wills 
it." 

It would seem that building society advocates were created to teach men 
how to will it. In this line of work they have certainly been eminently 
successful. Tp what class of citizens do these advocates belong, good, better, 
or best ? In the early history of these associations they were organized and 
almost wholly managed by mechanics and laboring men ; managed honestly, 
conservatively, and successfully ; and to this " class " belongs the honor 
of organizing, conducting, and carrying to a point of magnitude and use- 
fulness, that commands the admiration of financiers the world over, the 
building societies as conducted in Pennsylvania and other States. 

The honest, thrifty home-seeker has proved himself to be the " best " citizen 
so far as managing a building society is concerned. When failures have oc- 
curred, the main causes have been the introduction into the management of 
financial ideas emanating from the brains of theoretical bankers and literary 
economists. 

The man who works at the bench mending shoes has a better idea of what 
a dollar will do than the man who has at his command hundreds of thousands 
of dollars belonging to other people, but who never was blessed with the 
necessity of earning a real dollar by his own labor. The conservative build- 
ing society is one of good common sense and not of class. It would be 
difficult to bankrupt a building society conducted by men endowed with 
honesty and good common sense. The "better citizen" is the man who 
spends less than he earns, pays his debts promptly, would rather give his 
neighbor a dollar than steal a dollar from him, looks upon the home institu- 
tion as holy and sacred, strives to own a home of his own, obeys the laws and 
looks the world straight in the face. This " class," without a penny to begin 
with, caused Philadelphia to be known the world over as " the City of 
Homes." 

In the many interesting cases of men redeemed from the habit of unthrift 
through the agency of building associations, and placed on the road to moder- 
ate fortunes, there are sometimes two sides to the story. One side is that 
related by the individual who has been saved from future poverty, and the 
other side that which could be related by the wife and mother, if she did not 
prefer and really strive to hide from the outside world the life she had been 
leading, its trials and gloom. The man simply tells how many days in the 
week he preferred not to work, and how he never tried to save a penny. The 
wife could tell how little the husband brought into the home in the way of 
money, and what her awful anxiety had been. One side is public property, 
for it is told by the husband for the purpose of inducing others to make a 
new departure on the road to thrift and home-ownership. The other side is 
supposed to be sacred, but it is only a secret in a sense that it is not pro- 
claimed. No man who is often voluntarily away from his work, having a 



686 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 



"good" selfish "time," spending the earnings of days of actual work, need 
imagine that his friends and neighbors are ignorant of what the life in his 
home is, for it is as plain to all as if the house was constructed of clear glass. 
Every man of good health, who will make an honest and determined effort, 
has it in his power to change such a home as has been described into a palace 
of joy, comfort, and happiness, and even beauty. 

There are many thousands of men and women throughout the land who 

would not to-day have their own roof 
over their heads but for the building 
society and the thrifty habits acquired 
through it. 

The officers and members of these 
societies are men who have, by degrees, 
worked their way on the path to inde- 
pendence, and they are highly respected 
by all who know them, and pointed out 
as examples by their neighbors. 
— —'- Members of these societies, after be- 
coming firmly established in thrifty 
habits, delight in relating their own 
others. There are thousands of interesting 




ROW OF $1400 HOUSES. 



experience as well as that of 

cases on record, of which samples are given below: — 

A short time ago, at a house of mourning, the members of the family 
called the writer's attention to a girl about fifteen years of age, who had 
volunteered her services to the family until after the funeral. This remark 
was made: "Our case is sad enough (the death of a father), but the child 
you saw at the door has a father who has been confined to the house with a 
lingering illness. There are several younger children, and one girl older 
than the one you saw. The two girls have been working in a mill, but on 
short time. Their case is sadder than ours, and they were the first to volun- 
teer to help us." The above is the sad part of the story, but there is a silver- 
lined side, since ascertained. The father joined a building society some years 
ago and bought a house for $2000, and while on his sick bed received a paid- 
up deed for his home, the building society shares having matured. 

It is now twenty years since a big, strong man, under the influence of 
strong drink, visited the office of a building society secretary and asked if a 

Mrs. had any shares in the society. The books were examined and an 

affirmative answer was given. The next question was, "How much has been 
paid in on the shares ? " Answer, "Three hundred and sixty dollars." The 
inquirer brought his fist down on the secretary's desk and exclaimed : — 

" So it is true, is it ? I will stop that game ; that woman is my wife, and 
I have just heard that she is going to draw out the money and run away." 

The secretary measured the man, and, risking a fight, determined to nasten 
a climax. 

" So you are the husband of Mrs. , are you ? " 

li Yes, I am." 

" And you are drunk ? " 

" Yes, sir." 

" How long have you been drinking ? " 



BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS 



687 




MTCHE-N 
lb * (t 



" For a long time." 

" Have you given your wife any money lately ? " 

" No, sir." 

" Have you given her any of the money in this society ? " 

" I don't think I have." 

" Your wife takes in washing and goes out house-cleaning, does she not ? " 

" Yes, sir." 

" You eat at home without paying anything towards the support of the 
house ? " 

" Yes, sir." 

" You have nice children, and your wife takes good care of them ? " 

" Yes, sir." 

" You admit that all this is true ? " 

" Yes, sir." 

" Now, will you answer me an honest question ? " 

" I will." 

" Don't you think that you are just the kind of a man that a good woman 
like your wife would be justified in running away from ? " 

" I do." 

The secretary asked who told 
him that his wife was going to 
run away ; and he answered that 
it was a friend. 

The secretary then addressed 
him as follows : — 

" When your wife comes to 
the society, I have noticed that 
her hands were sometimes split 
and bleeding from hard work, 
and I know that she is saving 
this money to keep you and the 
children from the almshouse. 
In the first place, you should 
give up drinking and keep away 
from the people who have been 
talking against your wife ; and 
then I would advise you to go 
home at once and tell all to your 
wife, and get down on your 
knees before her and ask her 
pardon." 

To the utter surprise of the 
secretary the man shook hands with him and emphatically gave his word 
shat he would act on the advice given. 

Not the strangest part of the incident is that the advice was exactly fol- 
lowed. From that time until now the man has abstained from drink. As 
soon as he got work he took shares in the society, and in a few years three of 
his children had subscribed for shares. Only recently two of the children 
withdrew shares to buy homes of their own. This is the kind of practical 
44 



Z > 

5^ 



PARLOR 



fii-st Sloo r 



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9 tmyr 






s ii o 
S 5 a-* 

El *£? 













4 


i 

BEO ROOM 
/O t ttt ft 


' 



in J Jloor 



LOT /M * 6>o ?1 

PLAN OP $1400 HOUSES. 



688 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

work done by every building society in every State in the Union, and the 
State as well as the entire country is the gainer by it. 

Of course it goes without saying that the building society knows no secret 
plan for the payment of dues and interest greater than the borrower can 
afford. It does, however, point out a way for every man to gain a home of 
his own, but the price of the house must be in keeping with his income. If 
this rule is not observed the result is almost always failure to gain the 
desired object. It is an old saying that it is almost wise to go in debt for a 
home, but it is decidedly unwise to contract for a home that requires every 
dollar of income to keep it up. 

Every home buyer should allow himself some margin in order to provide 
for the possible rainy day. The man who cannot save over twenty dollars 
a month outside of actual living expenses commits a serious error when he 
signs a contract requiring him to pay twenty-five dollars every four weeks. 
In doing this he robs himself first, and, second, is unfair to his family. It 
would be to his advantage to place aside three or four dollars out of the 
twenty dollars named as a nest egg. 

This applies in particular to the careful man, who has been taught in the 
school of thrift. The man who has been unthrifty may be able (when lie 
graduates) to save thirty dollars a month even when he thinks he cannot 
save anything. Building society managers make it their business to warn 
the thrifty not to undertake too much, and also to lead the unsaving into 
habits of economy. 

Only recently a judge on the bench said, " Such associations, when pro- 
perly conducted under judicious restrictions and management, are a helpful 
blessing and encouragement to any community. But the ambitions and ex- 
travagance of some borrowing members place themselves in a burdensome 
condition. . . . Far better for the public, the associations, and their member- 
ship, that many small loans be made rather than a few in number and large in 
amount. Moderate homes and a moderate price should be the criterion. . . . 
Their primary purpose was and should continue to be to promote industry, 
frugality, and saving, and convert the shiftless and discouraged tenant into a 
self-reliant and contented home-builder." 

Building societies since their inception have supplied the means for home 
purchasing, but these companies do not generally take any part in the erec- 
tion of houses. Most of the small homes in Philadelphia have been built by 
those engaged in the business of building houses for sale. 

Here is a picture of a row of houses containing seven rooms each. The 
purchase price is $1400 each. The lots are 14 feet wide and 60 feet deep. 
The houses are brownstone and brick. They have good cellars, portable 
heaters, and range in kitchen, hot and cold water in kitchen and bathroom. 
On the first floor there are three rooms, — parlor, dining-room, and kitchen, 
and outside shed. Front door opens into vestibule ; entrance to parlor from 
entry, and also from dining-room. Two front bedrooms over the parlor, 
bathroom in centre, and sitting-room back of the bathroom. The dining- 
room extends over the width of the lot less stairway room, and receives light 
from skylight. The kitchen has a window opening towards the back shed or 
backyard. A small toilet room occupies a small portion of the back shed. 

Any person known to be prompt in the payment of dues and interest may 



690 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

purchase such a home by the payment of $200 in cash, and giving a building 
society mortgage for the balance of the purchase-money, namely, $1200. 
The monthly cost would be about as follows : — 

Monthly dues $6.00 

Monthly interest 6.00 

Monthly total $12.00 

A fairly prosperous building society will mature its shares in twelve years, 
and at the end of that period the home would be free from debt. During 
this time the borrower must pay taxes and water rent, amounting to some 
$25.00 per year. The total payments would be about as follows : — 

First payment $200.00 

Dues and interest 1728.00 

Taxes and water rent 300.00 

Total $2228.00 

This seems like a considerable sum of money for a house worth $1400. 
But it must be remembered that the borrower has lived in the house during 
these twelve years, and that he has saved in rent that he would have paid 
elsewhere, at least $1800. 

He has paid $2228.00 

He has saved 1800.00 

Real eost of house $428.00 

Now he is the full owner of his own home. During the next twelve years 

he will have nothing to pay but taxes and water rent, and possibly some 

slight repairs, at the most not over $400 all told. 

His next door neighbor is still a renter, and pays $1800 to his landlord 

during the second period named ; and the two accounts compared show : — 

Rent payer $1800.00 

House owner 400.00 

Saving $1400.00 

This is equal to a saving of, say, $10.00 a month for 144 months, and if 
used in the purchase of ten shares of building society stock would be worth 
at the time named $2000, instead of $1400 merely saved. The neighbor who 
is a tenant is still paying rent and owns neither a stick nor a stone, while the 
building society borrower owns one house free and also has the command of 
$2000 in cash, all on account of his house-owning experiment. 

V. THE BANQUET. 

It is customary for the directors of these societies, at their own expense, 
to celebrate the closing of a successful year, and have as their guests repre- 
sentatives from other societies. " The banquet " includes officers from fully 
fifty companies, some being directors of four or five associations. At these 
gatherings experiences are related and subjects for the advancement of the 
cause are discussed. Every individual present on these occasions volunteers 
the information that he owed all he possessed to the building society and its 
teachings. 

What the bottles on the table may have contained, it matters not now, for 
they are empty and are not capable of doing any harm. 



EPOCH-MAKERS OF THE CENTURY 

By REV. A. LEFFINGWELL, 

Rector of Trinity Church, Toledo, Ohio. 

Every century has had its epoch-making characters, - men and women 
who dominated and directed the thoughts, purposes, activities, and achieve- 




u^ts of their times. The nineteenth century is distinguished above all 
oTers by the number and quality of those who came to stand for the incep. 
In advance aSi culmination of the world's great movements and who 
highly exemplified in their careers the enterprise and genius of their day. 



692 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 



The object here is to designate, and make brief mention of, some of those 
who have fairly earned the title of epoch-maker, Avith the hope of providing 
a delightful historic study, and further enhancing the instructive value of a 
volume addressed to the triumphs and wonders of the century. 

Statesmen, Orators, and Jurists. — Abraham Lincoln (b. February 12, 
1809; d. April 14, 1865) sprang from the masses, and grew up with their 
institutions rather than with the learning of the schools. He grew into 
leadership because he was one of the "million," had hard sense and was 
true. As a forcible exponent of the sentiment of his party he was elected 
President in 1861. His election was the signal for secession and war. His 
mastery of the most delicate situation in the history of his country was 
superb. His patience, his perseverance amid hard trials, his wisdom of 
administration, his adaptation to the march of events, his striking and edu- 
cative speech, his determination to preserve a union of States, all led grandly 
and inevitably to the crowning act of his noble career, — the abolition of 
slavery in the United States in 1863. 

There is no sadder chapter in history, and no greater loss for any nation 
or time, than that of his taking off (after being a second time honored by the 

presidency) at the hands of an assassin, on 
the night of April 14, 1865. 

Jefferson Davis (b. June 3, 1808; d. De- 
cember 6, 1889) stood for the cause of the 
South against the Union, as it took concrete 
political form in the shape of the Confed- 
eracy, of which he became the only Presi- 
dent. Though, perhaps, lacking the ability of 
such leaders as Calhoun and Stephens, he was 
a conscientious and persistent advocate of 
the doctrines which culminated in war, and 
as chief executive ruled with energy and firm- 
ness. 

Henry Clay (b. April 12, 1777 ; d. July 29, 
1852) was a born orator and natural party 
leader. In statesmanship he was intensely 
patriotic and always able, being highly in- 
formed and skillful in debate. He came to stand as the champion of those 
doctrines which the Whig party supported, such as protection to home indus- 
tries, internal improvements, and reciprocity. Upon the question of slavery 
which agitated Congress during most of his career he generally assumed an 
attitude of compromise, and fathered so many measures of a pacifying nature 
that he was called " the great pacificator." 

Daniel Webster (b. January 18, 1782 ; d. October 24, 1852) typifies the 
gigantic and imposing in New England intellect and physique. As early 
as 1820 he stood at the very head of American orators, a fame soon to be 
followed in the ranks of law and statesmanship. At first he opposed the 
doctrine of protection, but subsequently gave his support to Henry Clay's 
" American policy." In the United States Senate, he won the titles of " ex- 
pounder of the Constitution " and " supporter and defender of the Union," 
by his masterly denunciations of the doctrine of nullification. 





1*. \ 


1 ^v 


P3K^ \ 


\ . 


m / 







JEFFEItSON DAVIS. 



EPOCH-MAKERS OF THE CENTURY 



693 



James Monroe (b. April 28, 1758; d. July 4, 1831) reached the presidency 
twice, once in 1817, and again in 1820. His last administration was charac- 
terized as " the era of good feeling," during which new States were admitted, 
Florida was acquired, the Louisiana boundary defined, slavery prohibited 
north of certain lines, and many provoking controversies with England were 
settled. In 1823 he signalized his administration by promulgating the now 
famous "Monroe Doctrine," which was a warning to Europe that monarchi- 




WILLIAM E. GLADSTONE. 



cal governments would not be allowed to interfere in the affairs of either 
North or South America. 

John Quincy Adams (b. July 11, 1767; d. February 23, 1848) typed the 
Federalism of the early part of the nineteenth century, and won the highest 
place in scholarly statesmanship. In diplomacy he filled many prominent 
and difficult positions at home and abroad. As sixth President of the United 
States, he was opposed by a majority in Congress, and consequently failed 
to distinguish his administration. He was the forerunner of those senti- 



694 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

ments which culminated in organized opposition to the doctrine of human 
slavery. 

John C. Calhoun (b. March 18, 1782 ; d. March 31, 1850) was twice Vice- 
President of the United States, and as Senator became the leading exponent 
of the doctrine of States' rights and nullification of federal tariff laws. He 
ranked with Clay and Webster as a debater and constitutional expounder, 
and the three were known as " the Great Trio." In him the pro-slavery 
cause found its subtlest, ablest, and most logical defender. With a fully 
stored mind of highly metaphysical turn, a fearlessness and persistency that 
were matchless, and a character above reproach, he greatly endeared himself 
in the South, and his writings are held in high esteem by men of his school 
of politics. 

Bufus Choate (b. October 1, 1799 ; d. July 13, 1859) was probably the best- 
equippecl scholar of the public men of the century, and was unusually bril- 
liant as orator, lawyer, and publicist. Next to Mr. Webster he was the great- 
est member of the Massachusetts bar. He may be called the American Lord 
Erskine. 

Count Camillo Beuso di Cavour, of Italy (b. August 10, 1810 ; d. June 6, 
1861), found a life-work in the unification of the Italian States. By pursu- 
ing a masterly course in European diplomacy he brought the states of Morth 
Italy into unity, and finally, through the efforts of Garibaldi, those of South- 
ern Italy became united with them in one kingdom under the rule of Victor 
Emmanuel in 1860. Though not a man of " blood and iron," like Bismarck, 
he was the equal of his great German contemporary in diplomacy. 

William Ewart Gladstone (b. December 29, 1809; d. May 19, 1898) was 
four times premier of England. As orator, political leader and statesman, 
and critic in the immense range of subjects he covered, his genius was with- 
out parallel. It may be said that his was the mightiest personality and 
most catholic and powerful intellect of any Englishman. He championed the 
cause of Christianity among all nations, sounded the first trumpet call of 
Italian liberty, opposed Turkey as a Mohammedan power, raised England's 
commercial prosperity to the highest notch, unraveled the entanglements of 
Beaconsfield's ministry, inaugurated the most astonishing reforms in all direc- 
tions, but especially in the church, education, army, and among the labor 
unions. It is almost impossible to name any matter of national or inter- 
national importance in wdiich his personality and genius were not felt for 
good. 

Alexander Hamilton (b. January 11, 1757; d. July 11, 1804) was by all 
odds the ablest jurist and statesman of the early constitutional era of the 
United States. He became the first Secretary of the Treasury, and lifted 
the finances of the government from utter prostration to high prosperity. 
As fiscal organizer his success was unparalleled, and all after administrations 
of the Treasury have been practically along the lines he first laid down. He 
was easily the leader of that party which looked with disfavor on " States' 
Bights," and favored a strong central government. 

Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield (b. December 21, 1804; d. April 
19, 1881), stood, as premier, for English " territorial aristocracy " and for 
that " territorial expansion " which fixed the wide boundaries of the Indian 
Empire, made Queen Victoria Empress of India, taught both Bussia and 



EPOCH-MAKERS OF THE CENTURY 



Gi)5 



India to refrain from meddling with England's possessions, made the English 
voice preeminent in the disposition of Continental territory, and completely 
defeated the schemes of Russia against Turkey. Under him the middle 
classes lost, and the laboring classes gained, political power. His career 
greatly heightened the national institutions and character, as well as the 
international reputation and power, of his country. 

Thomas Jefferson (b. April 2, 1743 ; d. July 4, 182G) stood in the past cen- 
tury as an able exponent of American rights, and his views were incorporated 




THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



into the Declaration of Independence, of which he was the acknowledged 
author. He equally stood as the leading exponent of that political school of 
thought which favored decentralization, or limitation of the powers of the 
central government. After his election to the presidency in 1800, he signal- 
ized his administration by what is known as the Louisiana purchase, for 
$15,000,000. In thus enlarging the area of the country by boundaries of 
vast extent, he became one of the earliest and most enthusiastic of expan- 
sionists, and that without reference to the modernly mooted question of 
" government without the consent of the governed." 

Richard Cobden, of England (1804-1865), was a humanitarian of great 
native breadth and liberality, largely increased by travel and constant ob- 



696 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

servation. He was a powerful leader in the famous Manchester School of 
English statesmen. His share in modern progress was fourfold ; first, in 
securing the repeal of the odious tax on corn in 1846 ; second, in urging arbi- 
tration rather than arms as a final resort to settle international disputes ; 
third, in negotiating with France the Commercial Treaty of 1860, which Mr. 
Gladstone said no other living man could have secured ; fourth, in his vigor- 
ous and successful opposition of all efforts to enforce England's recognition 
of the Southern Confederacy during the late civil war. 

Prince Otto E. L. Bismarck, of Germany (b. April 1, 1815; d. July 30, 
1898), blended the unerring instinct, great far-sightedness, fertility in inven- 
tion and expedients, and adroit diplomacy of a statesman, with absolute 
fearlessness, inflexible purpose, indomitable energy, and resistless force. 
Thoroughly German, he was preeminently and always Prussian, and his 
great life-work was the accomplishment of German unity with Prussia at the 
head. This he achieved by the humiliation of Austria and France, and the 
gradual accession of all the distinctively German states. 

Wendell Phillips (1811-1884) exemplified the wonderful power of the 
skillfully colloquial in public speech, and is a type of the American orator 
who devotes his ability to correct public abuses, right public wrongs, and 
educate the public mind and taste. Chiefly as an avowed abolitionist, as 
advocate of the temperance cause, as champion of the Indians and of woman's 
rights to the ballot, and as untiring mover in improving the nation's penal 
institutions, Mr. Phillips most largely contributed to public weal and pro- 
gress. 

James Gillespie Blaine (b. June 31, 1830 ; d. January 27, 1893), whether 
serving in the House, Senate, or Cabinet, had few equals as a statesman, 
debater, parliamentarian, or enthusiastic political leader. Though often 
disappointed in his aspirations for the presidency, he lost none of that won- 
derful power which he had acquired by reason of his energy, tact, skill, 
personal magnetism, and knowledge of public men and measures. He became 
the special champion of the doctrine of reciprocity, and by its practical 
application during Mr. Harrison's administration proved its benefits to com- 
merce and international trade relations. 

By his splendid series of decisions and opinions, Joseph Story (September 
18, 1779 ; September 10, 1845) shares with John Marshall the merit of deter- 
mining and of developing towards its fullest capacity the power of the United 
States Supreme Court, as set forth in the Constitution, over state courts and 
state legislation. He also practically constructed the United States Admi- 
ralty Law and, even to-day. his "Commentaries on the American Constitu- 
tion," in connection with both of his foregoing services, is a standard work. 
He represents the broad and powerful American judicial mind, which has 
contributed so largely to the integrity of the Union. 

James Kent (b. July 31, 1763 ; d. December 12, 1847) was professor, judge 
of chancery, justice and chief justice of the N. Y. Supreme Court, and 
chancellor of New York. He possessed immense legal learning, and to him 
is primarily due the creation of New York courts of equity. His exhaustive 
"Commentaries upon American Law" is accepted at home and abroad as 
one of the great classics of American law literature. 

Francis Wharton was born March 7, 1820, and died February 21, 1884. 



EPOCH-MAKERS OF THE CENTURY 



697 



Although at the age of forty-three he exchanged law for the ministry, he 
still showed the legal tendency of his mind in a long career as professor of 
ecclesiastical and international law in Boston institutions. He enriched the 
literature of his profession by many valuable and standard works on law, 
municipal, state, national, and international, and, under Mr. Cleveland, was 




OTTO E. L. VON BTSMARCK. 



of great service to the administration as United States Examiner of Inter- 
national Claims in the Department of State. 

Louis Adolphe Thiers, of France (b. April 16. 1797 ; d. September 3. 1877), 
was editor, historian, and statesman, and in the latter role became a distin- 
guished leader of French thought and polity. His greatest service to his 
country was after the Franco-Prussian war, when the Assembly elected him 
chief of the executive, with the title of " President of the Republic." In this 
capacity he was particularly successful in negotiating the terms of peace with 
Germany, and in fulfilling all the conditions of peace. 



698 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



William McKinley (b. January 29, 1843) became a leading champion of 
the doctrine of industrial protection at an early period in his congressional 
career. In 1883 Hon. W. I). Kelley said of him : "He has distanced all his 
colleagues m mastering the details of the tariff." The Tariff Act of 1890 
came to be popularly known as the " McKinley Bill." Elected President in 




HON. WILLIAM MCKINLEY. 
(Copyright, 1896, by F. Gutekunst.) 

1896, his administration was signalized by that humanitarian interference 
in behalf of struggling Cuban patriots, which culminated in the Spanish- 
American war, and the most unprecedented triumph of modern times. It had 
the added distinction of rounding out the nineteenth and introducing the 
twentieth century. 

Warriors. — Napoleon Bonaparte (Napoleon I.), soldier, statesman, and 



EPOCH-MAKERS OF THE CENTURY 



699 



Emperor of the French (b. August 15, 1769 ; d. May 5, 1821), was the greatest 
of the world's masters in the art of war. His numerous campaigns, con- 
ducted with a brilliancy never before equaled, had for their object the 
humiliation of the countries of Europe, and the establishment of an imperial 
policy in which France should be supreme. This he came very near to effect- 
ing, in spite of closely combined and persistent opposition. None of the fre- 
quent coalitions formed to thwart his ambitions and stay his martial progress 
proved absolutely effective till that of March 25, 1815, was formed, which 
put an army of 700,000 men in the field against him. It was a part of this 
army that he met at Waterloo, June 18, 1815, where defeat awaited him, to- 
gether with the eclipse of his gigantic influence and phenomenal genius. 




GRANT'S TOMB, RIVERSIDE DRIVE, NEW YORK CITY. 



Ulysses Simpson Grant (b. April 27, 1822 ; d. July 2.3, 1885), graduated at 
West Point and had a brief military experience in the Mexican war. On 
the breaking out of the Civil War he reentered the Federal service from 
civil life, and by exceptional fertility of resource achieved a series of victo- 
ries in the West *iiich led to his command of all the Union forces, with the 
specially conferred title of lieutenant-general, a title subsequently raised to 
that of general. By the brilliant, persistent, and simultaneous campaigns he 
carried through in the East and West, he further clinched his title as one of 
the world's greatest generals, and ended the conflict with honorable peace. 
He was honored twice with the presidency of the nation, and through the 
trying period of reconstruction his wise statesmanship cemented the Union 
his sword had preserved. 

Arthur Wellesley Wellington of England (b. May 1, 1769 ; d. September 22, 



700 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



1852), attained his first real military distinction in the campaigns of the Eng- 
lish in India. He further added to his fame in the campaign against France 
in the Spanish peninsula. But his greatest glory as a warrior was reached 
in 1814, when, with the aid of the Prussian marshal Bliicher, he defeated 
Napoleon at the decisive battle of Waterloo. He was afterwards honored 




DUKE OF WELLINGTON. 



with a seat in the House of Lords, and as Prime Minister of the Tory party, 
but his statesmanship proved to be of an inferior and unpopular order. 

Helmuth Karl Bernhard von Moltke, of Germany (b. October 26, 1800 ; d. 
April 24, 1891), was the world's greatest exponent of strictly scientific war- 
fare. He made the Prussian army a most powerful and dangerous machine, 
and led it triumphantly against Denmark and Austria. By dint of strict 
organization and drill he made the armies of the German Confederation 
equally effective, as was shown in the Franco-German war (1870-71), which 



EPOCH-MAKERS OF THE CENTURY 



701 



was a series of brilliant victories, ending with the capitulation of Paris and 
the downfall of Napoleon III. and his empire. His greatness lay in the fact 
that cool, sober calculation always dominated his greatest audacity of plan. 

Simon Bolivar, or Bolivar y Ponte (b. July 25, 1785 ; d. December 17, 1830), 
justly earned the surname of "The Liberator." The first and greatest of 
those South American patriots who struck against the tyrannical colonial sys- 
tem of Spain, he achieved the independence of the three States of Colombia. 
Bolivia, and Peru, secured their recognition by the civilized world, and lived 
to govern them with the wisdom and moderation of a wise executive. 




COUNT VON MOLTKE. 



Eobert E. Lee (b. January 19, 1807 ; d. October 12, 1870), graduated at 
West Point, and was in the constant military service of the United States 
till the breaking out of the Civil War. He then transferred his services to 
the Confederacy, and speedily became the highest exponent of its military 
powers. Honorable, just, energetic, persistent, skillful in offensive or defen- 
sive warfare, schooled in strategy, full of devices and combinations to over- 
come desperate situations, he prolonged a hopeless struggle to an astounding 
degree, and met defeat and surrender without dishonor. He readily ranks as 
one of the world's greatest generals. 

Lajos (Louis) Kossuth of Hungary (b. April 27, 1802 j d. March 20, 1894), 



702 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

as writer, lawyer, and statesman, came to stand for Hungarian freedom. 
After the declaration of independence of his country in 1849, he became its 
military and political ruler, but was forced by Russian intervention and 
domestic rivalry from his high place, and escaped to foreign lands to pass 
the balance of his life in eloquent but fruitless appeals in behalf of his cause 
and people. 

Giuseppe Garibaldi, of Italy (b. July 4, 1807 ; d. June 2, 1882), typed the 
restless, daring soldier, the impulsive statesman, and the energetic defender 
of freedom. He shared Count Cavour's desire for a free and united Italy, 
and grew to be a great popular hero. Upon his capture of the two Sicilies, 
he presented them to Victor Emmanuel, thus consummating his life dream 
of unification, and his desire for a government in which the wishes of the 
people were, to some extent, recognized. 

Naval Heroes. — Stephen Decatur (b. January 5, 1779 ; d. March 22, 1820) 
attained the rank of captain in the U. S. Navy for his gallant exploit of 
burning the frigate Philadelphia in the harbor of Tripoli, after she had 
been captured by the Tripolitans. He won further fame as commodore in 
the war of 1812, and again in the Avar with Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli. Quick 
to comprehend emergencies and prompt in action, he was a type of the dash- 
ing and absolutely fearless American seaman. True to his fiery nature, he 
found his death in a duel with Commodore Barron. 

Oliver Hazard Perry (b. August 23, 1785 ; d. August 23, 1819) was rewarded 
with the rank of captain in the U. S. Navy for the remarkable courage and 
dash which eventuated in the memorable victory over the British fleet in Lake 
Erie, September 10, 1813. This victory gave the Americans control of the 
Great Lakes and hastened, more than any single event, the conquest of the 
Northwest and the end of the War of 1812. He saw further honorable service 
as commander of the Mediterranean squadron, and died at Port Spain, on 
the island of Trinidad, of yellow fever. 

David Dixon Porter (b. June 8, 1813 ; d. February 13, 1891) grew and ripened 
gradually into one of the great naval captains of the nineteenth century. 
His courage and energy, large experience, and intimate knowledge of the 
rivers and seacoasts of the country fitted him for the great emergencies of 
the Civil War. Many of the victories of the Union armies in the West were 
due to his cooperation with gunboats. He greatby aided in the initial success 
of Farragut's expedition up the Mississippi, the reduction of Vicksburg, and 
other strongholds upon Western waters. The greatest victory of his life was 
the capture of Fort Fisher. He wrote a history of the U. S. Navy during the 
war, a work commended by all naval nations. On the death of Farragut, 
1870, he reached the high rank of admiral. 

David Glascoe Farragut (b. July 5, 1801 ; d. August 14. 1870) supplies the 
highest type of the skillful, cautious American naval commander, backed up 
by extraordinary dash and boldness. His signal achievements during the 
Civil War were the destruction of the Confederate fleet in the Mississippi, 
the capture of New Orleans, the passage of the forts at Port Hudson and 
the batteries at Vicksburg, and the capture of Mobile. For his brilliant and 
successful services the rank of vice-admiral was especially created for him by 
the government, and afterwards that of admiral. 

John Adolf Dahlgren (b. November 13, 1809 : d. July 12, 1870) was a prime 



EPOCH-MAKERS OF THE CENTURY 



703 



agent in developing the Naval Ordnance Department and its works at Wash- 
ington. He invented and made the well-known Dahlgren guns. Durino- the 
•Civil War he commanded the South Atlantic blockading squadron, of some 
ninety vessels, and did splendid service for the Union cause. He was author 
of many naval articles and books, some of the latter being used as text books 
by the government. 

Raphael Semmes (b. September 27, 1809 ; d. August 30, 1877) types more 
fully than any other the naval dash and efficiency of the Confederacy. In 
him, as commander of the Sumter and Alabama, the merchant marine of the 




GEN. GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI. 



United States found its direst enemy, and his exploits upon the ocean won 
for him a fame which overshadowed those of even higher rank, but whose 
services were limited to narrower fields of naval activity. 

Admiral George Dewey (b. December 26, 1837) acquired considerable naval 
experience in the Civil War. At the breaking out of hostilities with Spain 
(1898) he was in command of the U. S. squadron in Eastern waters, and was 
ordered to destroy the Spanish fleet in the harbor of Manila, His attack was 
prompt and daring, and it ended in one of the most notable victories in the 
history of naval warfare. In a few hours the entire fleet of Spain in the 
Orient was SAvept away, together with her power, and the United States was 
45 



704 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 

placed in possession of a new and magnificent island empire whose mainte- 
nance and government may change the whole history of the Orient, if not 
of the world. 

Admiral Sampson's contribution to the century's progress lies in the line 
of skillful preparation for emergencies, and promptitude in meeting them. 
He became an epoch-maker in the history of the United States by means of 
the great and decisive victory over the Spaniards, won by the fleet under his 
command in the waters off Santiago. 

Preachers and Teachers. — The Rev. James McCosh (b. April 1, 1811 ; 
d. November 6, 1894) was an able leader of that great school of literary 
men, scholars, educators, and aggesssive practical thinkers which this century 
chiefly seems to have produced. 

His contribution to modern progress lies mainly along three lines : — 

First, in his efforts to obtain the Free Church of Scotland, and establish it. 

Second, in his most successful administration of the affairs of Princeton 
College while he was president of that institution. 

Third, by his numerous, original, and powerful writings, chiefly controversial 
and philosophical. 

The Rev. Charles Hodge (b. December 28, 1797 ; d. June 19, 1878) was a fine 
example of the modern expositor of the dogmas of Calvinism. Strong in 
conviction and persistent in purpose, a clear, logical thinker and writer, he 
naturally became a very powerful leader, his influence being particularly felt 
in establishing the present exalted position of the Presbyterians, especially 
of the old school division. This influence was wielded partly from his chair 
as Professor of Didactic, Exegetic, and Polemic Theology, and especially in 
the famous Princeton Review, which owes its greatness chiefly to his 
editorship and contributions. 

Philip Schaff (b. 1819 ; d. October 20, 1893) is a type of the scholar who, 
through profound research and interpretation, has created an epoch in theology 
by his contributions to the nineteenth century, mainly in historical and ex- 
egetical branches. 

Henry Ward Beecher (b. June 24, 1813 ; d. March 8, 1887) easily earned 
the reputation of the greatest pulpit orator of his day. As pastor of Ply- 
mouth (Congregational) Church in New York, his genius and remarkable 
eloquence attracted and held one of the largest congregations in the United 
States. Spontaneity, tact, emotion were elements of his oratory, and these 
were always supplemented by force, depth, subtilty, and quick grasp of intel- 
lect and heart. His versatility was phenomenal. Journalism, literature, pol- 
itics, social life, philanthropy, parochial organization, and even agriculture 
and many other branches were touched upon by him, and all with results 
varying from excellent to extraordinary. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson (b. May 25, 1803 ; d. April 27, 1882) passed through 
the career of teacher and preacher to that of general writer, lecturer, and poet. 
He should probably be classed with the metaphysicians or philosophers. His 
publication of " Nature " in 1835 marked a new era in American thought. From 
subsequent addresses and works may be dated the intellectual movement 
which was called Transcendentalism, and which was a reaction against for- 
malism and tradition. He lacked the method essential to the foundation of 
a new philosophy, but his works form a permanent addition to the highest lit- 
erature of the human race. 



EPOCH-MAKERS OF THE CENTURY 



705 




CHARLES H. SPURGEON. 



Phillips Brooks (b. December 13, 1835; d. January 23, 1893) was one of 
those phenomenal preachers of the century who won the hearing and hearts of 
his auditors by largeness and liberality of thought ; spirituality, earnestness, 
self-sacrifice, and great love; and by beauty and poise of character. He 
seldom preached doctrine, but relied on the 
efficacy of ardent exhortation, and the find- 
ing and kindling of the good in each audi- 
tor. 

Charles H. Spurgeon (b. June 19, 1834 ; d. 
January 31, 1892) stands as a type of the 
great popular preacher and leader in charita- 
ble work. With Baptist views, he revived his 
own denomination and exerted a helpful in- 
fluence on all others. No divine of his time 
swayed so resistlessly the immense audiences 
he attracted. His plain sermons were always 
lightened with happy illustrations and deliv- 
ered with rare poAver and personal magnetism, 
and they had the exceptional quality of retain- 
ing much of their charm and persuasiveness 
Avhen in print. 

Friedrich Froebel of Thuringia, Germany (b. April 21, 1782 ; d. June 2, 
1852), Avas a born educator, and his great life-Avorklay wholly in that direction. 
He studied not so much to get knowledge of particular branches as to dis- 
cover their natural unity and hidden connection. He was the advocate of the 
new education, and pushed the system of Pestalozzi far beyond its author's 
dreams. According to Froebel, man and nature are governed by the same 
laws ; and, by his observation of both, he reached his idea of what man's 
development should be, and hoAV to accomplish it. True development must of 
course proceed from within, from self activity. And as every age of man is 
complete in itself, its perfect development can come from only such develop- 
ment in the preceding age. Hence, the necessity of properly training and 
educating young children. This course of reasoning resulted in his invention 
of the kindergarten system, together Avith his self-sacrificing devotion in 
training teachers, and in his heroic perseverance notwithstanding bitter op- 
position, or indifference. 

Victor Cousin, of France (b. November 28, 1792 ; d. June 15, 1867), Avas a 
renowned epoch-maker of the century in founding the school of systematic 
eclecticism in philosophy. His system sets forth a doctrine of catholic com- 
prehension and toleration of others. Few men did more in official and 
private life to advance the cause of general education in France. 

William Wilberforce, of England (b. August 24, 1759 ; d. July 29, 1833), 
with Pitt and Clarkson, led in the cause of freeing the slaves, being himself 
the greatest type of the English abolitionist. For forty-six years he main- 
tained unceasing and relentless warfare against slavery, and his priceless gift 
to the present century was the final and complete extinction of slavery and 
of the slave-trade in the British possessions. 

Historians. — William H. Prescott (b. May 14, 1796 ; d. January 27, 
1859) proved himself to be an epoch-maker in the sense that he combined 



706 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 



the worth of history with the brilliance and fascination of the novel, and 
developed the entirely new field of Spain's career at home and in her colo- 
nies. His "Ferdinand and Isabella," '-Conquest of Mexico," "Conquest of 
Peru," and " History of Philip II," all obtained a world-wide circulation, and 
both placed and kept their author in the highest rank of modern American 
historians. 

Francois P. G. Guizot, of France (b. October 4, 1784 ; d. September 13, 
1874). was both statesman and historian. In the former capacity he held 
several important public positions, and from 1840 to 1847 was, as Minister 




WILLIAM WILBERFORCE. 

of Foreign Affairs, really at the head of the government. His many pro- 
posed reforms brought on the revolution of 1848 and the dethronement of 
Louis Philippe. Though ranking as one of the greatest of French states- 
men, his highest and most enduring reputation rests on his historical 
writings, which are very numerous, and the chief of which is his " General 
History of Civilization in Europe." His works are classics of historical 
research, and inspiring forerunners of the modern method of treating history. 
James Anthony Froude (b. October 23, 1818; d. October 20, 1894) ranks 
as one of the brightest of England's writers and historians, though not one 
of the most reliable. His writings are characterized, in the main, by ultra- 



EPOCH-MAKERS OF THE CENTURY 707 

Protestantism ; and in his two most important works, " The English in 
Ireland in the 18th Century,'' and "The History of England," he endeavors 
to justify his country's severe treatment of the Irish Romanists, to establish 
Henry VIII. as the chief champion of English independence, and also to 
bestow upon her ministers much of the credit popularly supposed to belong 
to Queen Elizabeth. 

John L. Motley (b. Massachusetts, April 15, 1814 ; d. England, May 29, 
1877) typifies the patient and painstaking searcher for truth in the develop- 




THOMAS B. MACAULAY. 

ment of national history ; and also the sympathetic, graphic, and spirited 
painter of the scenes, events, and characters which he presents. His -'Rise 
of the Dutch Republic," "History of the United Netherlands," and "Life 
and Death of John of Barneveld " are all undeniably great contributions to 
the historical literature of the present century, besides being monuments 
to the exacting toil and research of years. 

Henry Thomas Buckle, of England (b. November 24. 1822; d. May 20. 
1862) is a conspicuous type of the patient and learned historian. His prin- 
cipal donation to modern progress is " The History of Civilization in Eng- 
land," a work whose novel theories created an epoch in the philosophy of 



708 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

history, and called forth much controversy. According to him, civilization 
was due not so much to moral or religious influence as to material causes, — 
soil, climate, food, atmosphere, etc. 

George Bancroft (b. October 3, 1800; d. January 17, 1891) was equally 
renowned as statesman and historian. As a member of President Polk's 
cabinet, he was instrumental in founding the Naval Academy at Annapolis 
and the Naval Observatory at Washington. As minister to Prussia he 
negotiated several foreign treaties, and ably conducted the settlement of the 
" Northwest Boundary " question. But his great life-work was his " History 
of the United States," on which he labored untiringly till his death. It is 
the most exhaustive, philosophic, and inspiring of our national histories. 

Richard Hiklreth (b. June 28, 1807 ; d. June 11, 1865) was one of the 
century's valuable contributors to the welfare of the United States by his 
" History of Banks," his many works on morals and politics, and chiefly by 
his great life-work, "The History of the United States," a production of 
great labor and masterly detail, but somewhat heavily written. 

Thomas Babington Macaulay, of England (b. October 25, 1800; d. De- 
cember 28, 1859), was noted as essayist and statesman. But his genius lay 
especially in history, in which line he was enabled to furnish the world with 
his great life-work, that most remarkable and valuable " History of England," 
which quickly attained a circulation never before equaled by any similar 
publication. Though at times partisan and partial, he was still fortunate in 
throwing his great strength on the side of right. 

Editors. — Horace Greeley (b. February 3, 1811 ; d. November 29, 1872) 
was founder of the " New York Tribune." He took rank as one of the ablest 
editors of his day, and stood the foremost political advocate and controver- 
sialist of his time in America. He made of his paper a splendid property, 
and through it exercised an influence that reached far down among the 
masses. He lost much of his popularity by his advocacy of universal 
amnesty and impartial suffrage, after the close of the Civil War, and gradu- 
ally drifted into the Liberal Republican party. This party, in alliance with 
the Democrats, placed him on the presidential ticket in 1872. He was dis- 
astrously defeated, and died from the effects of hard campaign work and 
grief. 

James Gordon Bennett (b. September 1. 1795; d. June 1, 1872), founder of 
the '• New York Herald," was the most spirited and daring of those pioneers 
who revolutionized the journalism of the century. In his paper he broke 
away from high prices and prosaic methods, and inaugurated the era of cheap 
prices, racy news, and independent expression. He practically developed 
the present organization of newsboys, the use of the telegraph in securing 
news, and the American system of European and war correspondence. 

William Cullen Bryant (b. November 3, 1794 ; d. June 12, 1878) united 
the scholarship of the general literature and the grace of a poet with the 
genius of a high-toned and brilliant editor. He gave to his paper, the " New 
York Evening Post," a rank and influence seldom attained in journalism, es- 
pecially w T hen it is considered that its patrons were chiefly of the educated 
and higher business classes. He represented the cleanest and most intellec- 
tual journalism of the century. 

John W. Forney (b. September 20, 1817 ; d. December 9, 1881) was founder 



EPOCH-MAKERS OF THE CENTURY 709 

and owner of "The Philadelphia Press." The journalism of the century can 
boast no more indefatigable and brilliant pen than his, nor did any journal 
of his day occupy a more commanding place amid the discussions incident to 
the Civil War and subsequent periods of reconstruction. He was also editor 
and owner of the Washington, D. C, " Chronicle." 

Charles Anderson Dana (b. August 8, 1819 ; d. October 17, 1897) is an in- 
stance of a scholar and publicist who found a true, though late, outlet for 
his genius in the realm of independent journalism. Under his editorship 
and management the " New York Sun " became the model news medium of the 
country, and its editorial, financial, and other departments were conducted 
with an ability and conscientiousness that commanded the widest confidence. 
He was associate editor of "The New American Cyclopaedia," and compiler 
of the admirable " Household Book of Poetry." 

Joseph Medill (b. April 6, 1823 ; d. March 16, 1899) rose to the high rank 
of editor-in-chief and principal owner of " The Chicago Tribune," through the 
schooling afforded by connection with several minor papers. No man of the 
century was more thoroughly imbued with the true editorial instinct. Of 
dignified and prudent expression, broad and keen thought, ever alive to the 
privileges and power of the press, he made his journal a model of excellence 
in all its varied departments as well as a colossal property. 

Joseph Pulitzer (b. 1847) was founder and editor of " The St. Louis Post- 
Despatch," and afterwards became owner and editor of "The New York 
World." Like the elder Bennett he ranks as one of the dashing, daring 
editors of the century, whose aim is to gain notoriety and extraordinary cir- 
culation for his journal by strong, and often vituperative, attack upon public 
men and things, and by tireless efforts to secure general news of a unique 
and sensational character, at whatever cost. 

Murat Halstead (b. 1829) rose to editorial distinction, and became a strong 
factor in the life of the middle West, through his connection with the " Cin- 
cinnati Commercial," which he raised to a flourishing financial condition, with 
immense power in municipal, state, and national politics. In 1890 he became 
editor of « The Standard-Union," Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Whitelaw Reid (b. October 27, 1837) is a type of the highest class of Am- 
erican political editors, and represents the best in that kind of American 
journalism which aims to be both alert and catholic in its efforts, without the 
sensationalism of personality, exaggeration, or the horrible. Next to Mr. 
Greeley, whom he succeeded as editor, he will best be remembered in con- 
nection with "The New York Tribune," and has made his journal a great 
power along nearly all lines, particularly those political. 

Scientists. — Sir Charles Bell, of Scotland (b. November 17, 1774 ; d. 
April 29, 1842), is a shining example of patience and genius for investigation, 
discovery, and deduction in medical science. The nervous system was his 
particular forte ; and he discovered the most important principle that the 
brain is divided into two parts, each having its corresponding division in the 
spinal marrow, and that one set of nerves conveys sensations from the body 
to the brain, another carrying back to the body and its muscles the command 
of the brain, and finally that nerves conveying different sensations are con- 
nected with different parts of the brain. He was a remarkable surgeon, a 
brilliant lecturer, and a medical author of universal fame. 



710 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX" 1 CENTURY 

Samuel D. Gross (b. July 8, 1805 ; d. May 6, 1884) ranked as one of the 
epoch-makers in his profession. As physician, surgeon, and medical author 
he showed a lofty aim, strict devotion, marked originality, and powerful 
intellect. His numerous works commanded world-wide attention and became 
accepted standards. Two of them, at least, were the first of their kind ever 
published in America. 

George C. L. F. D. Cuvier. of France (b. August 23, 1769 ; d. May 13, 
1832), exhibited in his career the immense reformation and advance in natural 
history during the first three decades of the nineteenth century. He ex- 
panded the system of comparative anatomy as the only true basis of natural 
history, and from an utterly chaotic and unintelligible heap of dry facts 
concerning animal structures he finally deduced the underlying, natural 
principles of unity, in their classification and division. He also established 
many positive laws of geology and paleontology and, by his vast discoveries 
and daring conceptions therein, developed the comparatively neAV science of 
fossil animal-life to an extent hitherto undreamed of. 

Charles Robert Darwin, of England (b. February 13, 1809 ; d. April 18, 1893), 
was one of those well-equipped and persistent scientists whose investigations 
led to the modern doctrine of the origin and evolution of species by means 
of natural selection and preservation of favored races in the struggle for 
life. His conclusions were at first bitterly rejected, especiall} T by religious 
scientists, but ere the end of the century came they met with wide accept- 
ance. Only such a genius and patience as his could have collected, arranged, 
and interpreted the gigantic mass of facts out of which he slowly deduced 
his conclusions. 

Louis J. R. Agassiz (b. May 28, 1807 ; d. December 14, 1873), was the 
premier of his day as a scientist and naturalist. Of wonderful plrvsieal and 
mental power, vast enthusiasm, untiring industry, and exceptional propen- 
sity for research and orderly arrangement, he developed the modern science 
of ichthyology, propounded new and accepted theories of geology and of 
glacial systems, and established the magnificent Museum of Natural History 
at Cambridge, Mass. Astonishingly prolific as a writer, he remains a con- 
stant source of inspiration to naturalists and scientists. 

Samuel C. F. Hahnemann, of Germany (b. April 11, 175;"); d. July 2, 1843), 
was an epoch-maker in the field of medicine. By 1820 his theories and 
publications had awakened universal interest, and the homoeopathic system 
had become an established school. Despite the long and bitter war between 
allopathy and homoeopathy, it is certain that the latter has contributed 
largely to render medicine free from many old-time methods of an indefen- 
sible, if not actually harmful or dangerous kind. 

Horace Wells, of Hartford, Conn. (b. January 21, 1815 ; d. January 14. 
1848), was a dentist. His use of nitrous oxide (laughing gas) to render the 
extraction of teeth painless led to its fuller application as an anaesthetic in 
surgery, and hence to the discovery of modern anaesthesia by ether and 
chloroform. Though robbed of the honor of his discovery by others, the 
dentist Wells is no less a contributor to mankind of one of the greatest 
boons of the century. 

Louis Pasteur, of France (b. December 17, 1822 ; d. September 28, 1895), 
gave new direction and impulse to chemistry and pathology by the discovery 



EPOCH-MAKERS OF THE CENTURY 711 

that fermentation arose from micro-organisms, and also that disease was, in 
many instances, due to the presence of bacilli in blood or tissue. He fol- 
lowed this with his system of culture and inoculation, by means of which 
he performed most miraculous cures of even such a vicious disease as hydro- 
phobia. The Pasteur Institute in Paris stands a monument to his genius and 
philanthropy. 

Philanthropists. — Stephen Girard (b. May 24, 1750; d. December 26, 
1831) was crabbed, unapproachable, penurious, irreligious, yet strangely 
liberal in large public or charitable affairs. Twice he helped the government 
with large loans. Public charities and improvements, hospitals, and paradox- 
ically enough, even churches, were indebted to him for munificent gifts. The 
greatest monument to his philanthropy is Girard College, founded by a 
bequest of $8,000,000, for the education of poor white male orphans. 

James Smithson, of England (b. about 1765 ; d. June 27, 1829), was pos- 
sibly the first philanthropist to bestow a large endowment upon the United 
States. With the sum of $500,000 to $600,000, which came to it from this 
benevolent foreigner, the young republic founded and endowed the splendid 
Smithsonian Institute at Washington for the spread and increase of know- 
ledge, thus putting Mr. Smithson in the highest rank of the world's benefactors, 
and erecting an imperishable monument at another turning-point in the 
progress of civilization. 

George Peabody (b. February 18, 1795 ; d. November 14, 1869) ranks as 
one of the century's greatest philanthropists. Among his noblest gifts were 
$3,500,000 for free education and the training of teachers in the Southern 
States, $1,000,000 for a scientific institute at Baltimore, large sums to 
Harvard University, and a great amount to his native town, Danvers, Mass., 
for educational purposes. Dying in England, he left $2,500,000 to London, 
to found workingmen's homes. 

John Jacob Astor (b. July 17, 1763 ; d. March 29, 1848) used much of his 
colossal fortune in philanthropy. Perhaps his largest single gift, at least 
that by which he is best known as a benefactor, was the sum of $400,000 to 
found the Astor Library of New York city. This noble institution is con- 
ducted on the public plan, and contains nearly 300,000 volumes. 

James Lick (b. August 25, 1796 ; d. October 1, 1876) amassed a fortune in 
California, out of which he provided a trust fund for certain public and 
charitable purposes. This fund amounted to $5,000,000 at the time of his 
death. To him is due the famous Lick Telescope in the University of 
California, which cost $700,000; the California School of Mechanic Aits, 
costing $540,000 ; the free public baths of San Francisco, costing $150,000 ; 
and numerous other charities and benefactions. 

Leland Stanford (b. March 9, 1824; d. June 20, 1893) acquired a great 
fortune in California. Inspired by a dream at the time of his little son's 
death, he determined to found and endow an institution of learning in his 
State. The result was the Leland Stanford Junior University, whose direct 
endowment was princely, and whose indirect endowment is expected to 
amount to $20,000,000 or more. 

Florence Nightingale was born, May, 1823, in Florence, Italy, of English 
parents, and, prompted by philanthropic instincts, turned her attention to the 
relief of humanity. After study in various nursing schools, she was sent at 



712 



TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 




the head of a corps of trained nurses to care for the sick and wounded sol- 
diers of the Crimean war, in which position she displayed marvelous energy 
and ability. A grateful public subscribed for her a testimonial of $250,000, 

which she devoted to the founding 
of a training-school for nurses. 

Clara Barton (b. about 1830) left 
a clerkship in Washington to en- 
gage in the work of alleviating the 
sufferings of the soldiers of the Civil 
War, on the battlefields and in hos- 
pitals, a work she performed with 
rare energy and self-sacrifice. She 
afterwards aided the Grand Duchess 
of Baden in establishing her hospi- 
tals during the Franco-Prussian war, 
and was decorated with the Golden 
Cross of Baden and the Iron Cross 
of Germany. In 1881 she organized 
the American Bed Cross Society, for 
which she secured an international 
treaty giving it protection. She per- 
formed splendid service in camp and 
field during the Spanish-American 
war. 

John D. Rockefeller (b. 1839) is a 
splendid example of those many and 
noble American millionaires who have responded with astonishing liberality 
to the promptings of their philanthropic natures. The reconstruction of 
the Chicago University, the founding or endowment of other public institu- 
tions, and of numerous charitable benefactions, together embracing the 
expenditure of many millions, are magnificent monuments to Mr. Rockefeller's 
share in promoting the progress of his country during the last quarter of 
the nineteenth century. 

Matthew Vassar (b. April 29, 1792 ; d. June 23, 1868) founded Vassar 
College, N. Y., in 1861. A brewer of large fortune, he conceived the idea of 
erecting and endowing a college for women, wherein education could be 
obtained either moderately or gratuitously, and which should be undenomina- 
tional. To this end he gave land and $428,000 for buildings and equipment. 
Again he gave $360,000. Other members of his family added to his gifts, 
till $1,000,000 and more were expended in buildings, apparatus, etc., and the 
endowment amounted to over $1,000,000. 

Inventors. — George Stephenson, of England (b. June 9, 1781 ; d. August 
12, 1848), was the first (1814) to construct a satisfactory locomotive steam 
engine. In 1815 he introduced the steam blast into his second locomotive. 
In 1822 he built and operated his first railway, eight miles long. In 1829 
his engine, named the Rocket, was driven at the rate of twenty-nine miles an 
hour. He invented a safety lamp, which is still in use in English collieries. 
A natural genius and self-taught mechanic, he refused knighthood, but has 
received by common consent the title of the father of railways. 



FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE. 



EPOCH-MAKERS OF THE CENTURY 



713 



Richard M. Hoe (b. September 12, 1812 ; d. June 7, 1886) completely revo- 
lutionized the art of printing by the invention of his "lightning" rotary 
press, in 1846. This marvel was capable of printing 20,000 impressions an 
hour. After many costly experiments, with a view to printing both sides of 
a sheet at once, he evolved his web-perfecting press, which drew the paper 
from a roll, perhaps miles in length, at the rate of 1000 feet a minute, 
printed both sides simultaneously, and cut and folded the sheets at the rate 




CLAKA BARTON. 



of 20,000 per hour. Subsequent improvements have given his machines a 
much larger hourly capacity. 

Elias Howe (b. June 9, 1819 ; d. October 3, 1867) contributed the sewing- 
machine to the century's triumphs and wonders, though it is alleged that the 
honor of inventing both the eye-pointed needle and the lock-stitch belongs 
to Walter Hunt, between whom and Howe long litigation prevailed, finally 
resulting in the recognition of the 1846 patent of the latter. Modifications 
and improvements by more recent inventors have made the sewing-machine 
the household boon of to-day. 

Cyrus W. Field (b. November 30, 1819 ; d. July 12, 1892) made the pro- 
blem of a telegraphic cable across the Atlantic an aim of his life. For thirteen 
years he labored with wonderful faith and perseverance, and at last, after a 



714 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX™ CENTURY 

scries of defeats and mortifying failures, succeeded (1866) in laying a cable 
that thoroughly solved the problem. Since then submarine telegraphy has 
become one of the most useful and powerful factors in the private and public 
life of the world. 

Samuel F. B. Morse (b. April 27, 1791 ; d. April 2, 1872) contributed to 
the century's triumphs and world's civilization by that brilliant and persist- 
ent series of investigations, which resulted in the first practical telegraph. 
He brought his invention before the world in 1844, and with the aid of the 
government set up a line of forty miles between Washington and Baltimore, 
over which dispatches successfully passed, May 24, 1844. From this moment 
his triumph was complete, and he became the recipient of many nattering 
distinctions at home and abroad. 

John Ericsson (b. July 81, 1803 ; d. March 8, 1899) either invented, or first 
made practical, the steam fire-engine, the artificial draught for locomotives, 
the reversible locomotive, the " link-motion," the caloric engine, and the 
screw propeller. Discouraged in England, he came to the United States in 
1839, where he revolutionized naval warfare by applying the screw propeller 
to the U. S. S. Princeton, and employing a range finder. In 1854 he in- 
vented the Monitor iron-clad on principles first applied in the Monitor which 
defeated the Merrimac in Hampton Roads, Virginia, March 9, 1862. His 
career was signalized by many other valuable inventions. 

Alexander Graham Bell, born March 3, 1846, besides exploiting in America 
his father's valuable system of instruction to deaf mutes, typifies the inven- 
tive spirit of his age by his contribution to public progress through the 
material side, as exemplified in that indispensable aid to modern life, the 
telephone, with the invention of which he is generally, but by no means 
undisputedly, credited. 

Thomas Alva Edison (b. February 11. 1847) is a splendid example of the 
tireless, acute, and practical scientific inventor, and is well named the elec- 
trical " Avizard." Among the triumphs of his skill and genius are the auto- 
matic telegraphic repeater; the duplex telegraph, afterwards developed into 
the quadruplex and sextuplex transmitter ; the printing telegraph for stock 
quotations; the carbon telephone transmitter; the aerophone; the mega- 
phone and microphone; the phonograph and photometer; the incandescent 
lamp ; and many other devices for electric lighting. 

Nicola Tesla (born 1858), a former pupil and assistant of Edison, shares 
with his master the honor of representing the world's greatest and most 
practical of scientific inventors and discoverers. His most noted investiga- 
tions and discoveries have been along the line of arousing luminous vibra- 
tions in matter, without, at the same time, setting in action heat-vibrations. 
He has made the remarkable discovery that 200,000 volts may pass harm- 
lessly through that body which 2000 would kill, and is experimenting to 
produce 3,000,000 vibrations a minute in matter. He has also shown that 
both motors and lights can be operated on one wire without a circuit. His 
rotary motor is used in conveying power from the great plant at Niagara 
Falls. 

• Novelists. — Sir "Walter Scott, of Scotland (b. August 15, 1771 ; d. Sep- 
tember 21, 1832), exerted a powerful influence on the literature of the century 
through the medium of his stirring poetry and delightful fiction, in both of 



EPOCH-MAKERS OF THE CENTURY 715 

which he was most ready and prolific. His numerous works, teeming with 
striking situations, strong and noble in style, are models of literary excel- 
lence, and are as captivating to readers of to-day as they were half a century 
ago. 

Charles Dickens, of England (b. February 7, 1812; d. June 9, 1870), ably 
exemplified that school of novelists who paint homely social life with all its 
innocent, clumsy efforts at humor; its sorrows, vanities, and weaknesses; its 
selfishness, malice, and vice ; its wrongs, sufferings, and goodnesses. Though 




SIR WALTER SCOTT. 



faulty in plot and style and ridiculous in their exaggerations, his novels 
marked a new era in literature, and no books ever so appealed to the sym- 
pathies and good impulses of readers. 

James Fenimore Cooper (b. September 15, 1789 ; d. September 14, 1851) 
typifies a large and apparently enduring class of fiction writers of which he 
was a remarkable forerunner ; that school of novelists who deal with stirring, 
bold, and healthful adventure, in which the Anglo-Saxon mind particularly 
seems to find unfailing delight. Both at home and abroad, his novels at- 
tained a wide, sudden, and well-deserved popularity. And to this day no 
library of fiction is complete without them. 




716 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

Nathaniel Hawthorne (b. July 4, 1804; d. May 18, 1864) exhibits in his 
numerous fictional works a man's breadth and strength of imagination and 
a woman's quick perception and spiritual insight. Almost gloomy in color, 
overhung with impending fate, and often uncanny, his stories are yet always 
fascinating. As has been well said, one catches in them " gleaming wit, 
tender satire, exquisite natural description, subtle and strange analysis of 

human life, darkly passionate and weird." 

Count Leo (or Lyoff) Alekseevich Tolstoi 
(b. August 28, 1828) is a Russian aristocrat 
by birth, but has assumed the dress and 
life of a peasant, the better to exploit his 
doctrines respecting non-resistance, com- 
munism, labor, religion, politics, govern- 
ment, and society. His numerous writings 
show a combination of keenness of realistic 
insight and wealth of poetical imagination, 
of a wonderful breadth of view with per- 
fect handling of minute detail, seldom ri- 
valed in all literature. Whether or not he 
will prove to be the forerunner of a great 
revolution in the world's national and so- 
cial life, there is no disputing his genius 

CHARLES DICKENS. , /• .• -. • 

and pertinacity. 

Edward George Earle Bulwer (Baron Lytton), of England (b. May 25> 
1803 ; d. January 18, 1873), was novelist, poet, dramatist, and essayist, and 
ranked as one of the most versatile and classical authors of the century. 
Through his plays, poetry, and novels he introduced a new literary era, and 
was the leader, if not actual founder, of the school of melodramatic ro- 
mance. 

Harriet Elizabeth Beecher Stowe (b. June 14, 1811 ; d. July 1, 1896) ac- 
quired great fame as authoress of the epoch-making book, " Uncle Tom's 
Cabin." It proved to be a powerful contribution to the anti-slavery cause, 
and served to electrify readers in twenty different languages. In dramatized 
form it has delighted millions of auditors. The authoress represents 
woman's efforts for the overthrow of slavery ; efforts she put forth modestly, 
completely unconscious of their great power and future influence. 

George Eliot, pseudonym of Marian Evans, afterwards Mrs. Lewes, then 
Mrs. Cross, of England (b. November 22, 1819 ; d. December 22, 1880), was 
one of the ablest of the world's female novelists, and had but few equals 
among men. She was a leading epoch-maker in that introspective school 
which always with astonishing skill uses the "plot" in all its events, environ- 
ments, and circumstances to develop each character in strict logical accord, 
whether for good or evil. 

Victor Hugo, of France (b. February 26, 1802; d. May 22, 1885), was, in 
his day, the most popular author who has ever lived. Few poems, no 
drama, and absolutely no novel have ever produced the immediate and 
tremendous effect of his earlier poems, his " Hernani," and his " Les Mise- 
rables." Through " Hernani " he completely defeated the classic school and 
became the leader of the romantic school of revolutionary individualists, thus 



EPOCH-MAKERS OF THE CENTURY 717 

creating a new epocli in literature. He invented novelties in poetry and 
prose which produced strength, variety, delicacy, harmony, and richness of 
imagery and coloring, absolutely unparalleled and original. 

Poets. —Lord George Gordon Byron, of England (b. January 22, 1788 • d 
April 19, 1824), is a remarkable instance of a poet of marvelous natural 
powers, mingling good and evil in accordance with the whim that took him • 
yet exhibiting distinctly, through it all, evidences of a great soul and genius' 




LORD BYRON. 



He created an epoch in the world's poetic literature. Skeptical, cynical, 
melancholy even to sentimentality, and skillfully manipulating the public 
side of his affairs to keep up a most fascinating air of romantic mystery 
about them all, he succeeded in affecting public thought with these character- 
istics to a wonderful extent. As a result, "Byronism," for a time, was the 
absorbing rage in all prominent circles, literary and even social. 

Henry W. Longfellow (b. February 27, 1807 ; d. March 24, 1882) is pos- 
sibly the century's finest type of the people's poet. Though by no means a 
poet of great imaginative or creative powers, yet few reached his perfect 



718 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

skill as a painstaking and unerring artist ; while none have ever surpassed 
him in creating that atmosphere of subtile beauty which always seems to 
surround and penetrate his verse. As an epoch-maker his influence extended 
even to Europe, and especially to England, securing him a fame wider and 
greater than that of any other American poet, and rarely failing to win the 
enduring affection of all kinds of readers. 

John Greenleaf Whittier (b. December 17, 1807 ; d. September 7, 1892;, as 
an e'ditor and poet contributed no little to the cause of the abolitionists. 
Together with Longfellow, Holmes, Lowell, Hawthorne, and Emerson, he 
may be considered an epoch-maker in the development of American litera- 
ture as guided by the spirit of New England. He types the sweet, simple, 
and absolutely sincere poet whose verse breathes forth a strong patriotism, 
and is redolent of the healthful home life of the Eastern States. 

Sir Alfred Tennyson, of England (b. August 6, 1809; d. October 6, 1892), 
was by far the leading representative of those English poets who, while not 
wanting in the fire and spontaneity of true genius, nevertheless wrote care- 
fully, after long reflection, with calculation and toil, as to diction, polish, 
and arrangement of sentences and thoughts. His highly-wrought " In Me- 
moriam " and his exquisite, though somewhat sensuous " Idyls of the King " 
were absolute^ novel, and mark an epoch in the history of the world's 
poetry. 

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (b. 1809; d. June 29, 1861) is, without doubt, 
the greatest poetess of the present century and probably of any other. She 
presents an extraordinary instance of the grasp, comprehensiveness, and logic 
of man's intellect, united with the intuitions, deep emotions, impulses, and 
visions of woman. Her especial contribution to the progress of this century 
is not only to the wealth of its poetry, but also to the careful and discriminat- 
ing consideration of many of its social problems. 

Robert Browning (b. in London, May 7, 1812 ; d. in Venice, December 12, 
1889) was the foremost of psychological poets. Belonging to " The Romantic 
School," he created an epoch in literature by carrying his high ideals and 
wonderful efforts of genius over into what became known as " The Spasmo- 
dic School." 

Actors. — Edmund Keene, of England (b. 1787 ; d. May 15, 1833), was one 
of the greatest and most popular actors of all time. He typified, and greatly 
contributed to the success of, that school of actors who rely almost solely on 
their own native genius and acquired powers, rather than on the aid of 
externals. He has been called both the " Byron" and the "Napoleon" of 
actors, and seemed to have the most extraordinary power both of catching 
and revealing the meaning of Shakespeare, with the quickness and vividness 
of the lightning flash. 

Edwin Forrest (b. March 9, 1806 ; d. December 12, 1872) was a tragedian 
of the robust type. His success upon the stage was signal, owing to natural 
genius, superb form, and noble presence. For more than a generation he 
rendered effective and kept popular the leading tragedies of Shakespeare, 
and others suited to his powers. The Actors' Home at Philadelphia was 
endowed by him, and stands as his monument. 

Edwin Booth (b. November 13, 1833 ; d. June 7, 1893) stood as the 
exponent of the refined and lofty in drama. Through his rare histrionic 



EPOCH-MAKERS OF THE CENTURY 719 

powers he became a recognized interpreter of such characters as Richard III., 
Shylock, Lear, Iago, Othello, Brutus, etc., but he never appeared to better 
advantage than in Hamlet. His ability was as fully recognized abroad as at 
home. He expended $175,000 in establishing the Players' House and Club 
in New York. 

Charlotte S. Cushman (b. July 23, 1816; d. February 18, 1876) first won 
her histrionic honors in opera. Her voice failed, and then she began her 
memorable career as actress, her most famous personations being Lady 
Macbeth, Bianca, Julia, Beatrice, Lady Teazle, Queen Katharine, and Meg 
Merrilies. She readily ranked with the great dramatic artists of the century, 
and her skill, native and acquired, divided with her own splendid character 
the admiration of the general public. 

Tommaso Salvini (b. January, 1830) demonstrates that now very rare and 
severely tragic school of the stage in which the actor appeals to the public 
through his genius and art, rather than through his environments and acces- 
sories. He thus belongs to an apparently closing era in the history of the 
stage. Powerful, passionate yet self-controlled, magnificent in physique, in 
elocution, in reading and in deportment, as an actor he really belongs to the 
world, although Italian in both spirit and training. 

Sir Henry Irving (or really John Henry Broadrib), of England, was born 
in 1838, and is the leader of that modern school of actors, who depend not 
so much on good reading, acting and general elocution as upon careful atten- 
tion to details in stage-setting and presentation. As an epoch-maker in the 
history of the modern drama, he marks that point where the actor begins to 
look away from his own personal art to that displayed in his surroundings 
and accessories. 

Lyric Dramatists. — Ludwig van Beethoven, of Germany (b. December 
17, 1770 ; d. March 26, 1827), is widely held to be the most colossal of musi- 
cal geniuses, in breadth and grasp of intellect, in vastness and boldness 
of imagination, and in depth and tenderness of emotion. His one opera, 
" Fidelio," is by many considered to be unrivaled in the realm of pure dra- 
matic music. His sonatas and chamber music are generally conceded easily 
to lead in those two departments, while his symphonies are universally be- 
lieved to have reached the utmost limit of development which is possible in 
the field of orchestral composition. 

Charles F. Gounod, of France (b. June 17, 1818 ; d. October 18, 1893), is an 
instance of a composer whose permanent fame must rest on but one work, 
the opera of ''Faust,'' in which he reached the utmost height of his powers 
and success. No opera has ever had such instant, universal, and constant 
popularity. Eclectic in style, and faithful and enthusiastic in his art, he did 
much to advance the progress of religious and operatic music in France. 

Robert Schumann, of Saxony (b. June 8, 1810 ; d. July 29, 1856) was one 
of the creators of the romantic school of music. He was not a piano player, 
but a teacher and composer. His symphonies have been accorded a rank 
next to those of Beethoven, and for their deep pathos, hue. intense passion 
and wild, mournful beauty many of his compositions are almost peerless. 

Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (b. February 5, 1809 ; d. November 4, 1847) 
was as lovely in chai'acter as in works. In symphony, song, piano-forte, 
organ, or oratorio, he showed himself worthy of being classed with the great 
46 



720 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX th CENTURY 

musical masters. His compositions suffered eclipse for a time by those of a 
stronger school, but his true position in the musical world is once more be- 
coming recognized. 

Franz Schubert, of Austria (b. January 31, 1797 ; d. November 10, 1829), 
has been called " the immortal melodist." His fecundity was marvelous, and 
he is best known by his songs, several hundred in number, and nearly half of 
which have immortal quality. He also composed many charming sympho- 
nies and operas. His chief characteristics are the freshness of his delight- 
ful melodies supported by harmonies of equal interest. 

Anton Gregor Rubinstein, of Russia (b. November 30, 1830 ; d. November 
20, 1894), combined the brilliant pianist with the composer of genius. Had 
he not been preceded by Liszt as an epoch maker, he would undoubtedly 
have had the honor of being first of all great pianists. 

Frederic F. Chopin, of Poland (b. March 1, 1809 ; d. October 17, 1849), was 
one of the first of pianists and musical composers. His playing, like his 
nmsic, was marked by a strange and ravishing grace, and he was the great 
interpreter of the music of his native country. He composed concertos, 
waltzes, nocturnes, preludes, and mazurkas abounding in poetic fancy and 
subtle harmonic effects. 

Jacques Offenbach, of France (b. June 21, 1819 ; d. October 4, 1880), was 
the chief creator of the opera bouffe, and was an astonishingly prolific com- 
poser. He stands for the clever, tactful musician, shrewd to perceive and 
quick to seize what catches the public ear for the time being. 

Franz Liszt, of Hungary (b. October 22, 1811 ; d. July 31, 1886), ranks as 
one of the world's phenomenal pianists. His strength and technique were 
prodigious, his magnetism irresistible, and his power over audiences un- 
eqnaled. By his free, fantastic, compositions he created a new school of 
composers. He gave extraordinary aid and inspiration to other musicians, 
and in reality brought Richard Wagner into prominence before the musical 
world. 

Richard Wagner, of Germany (b. May 22, 1813 ; cl. February 13, 1883), 
early abandoned Beethoven as an operatic model, and felt that a new era in 
music was about to dawn. His musical theories first found full swing in 
his famous opera of the "Nibelungen Ring," with which, and kindred produc- 
tions, he practically created the modern music-drama. In his operas he was 
sole author of their wonderful wealth of true poetry, stage effects, dramatic 
action, and endless melody. No musician has ever made such bitter foes and 
warm friends, and none ever had to fight his way so stubbornly to recogni- 
tion. 

Giuseppe Verdi, of Italy (b. October 9, 1813), is one of the most remarkable 
musical composers of the century, in the respect that his talent has not 
failed with age, but has kept pace with the great changes which have affected 
the dramatic stage since his youth. In the beauty of his melodies and the 
intensity of his dramatic powers he is unsurpassed. Very few, indeed, of 
his numerous productions have failed to hold exalted place in public estima- 
tion. His best-known works are "II Trovatore," "La Traviata," "Rigoletto," 
"Ballo in Maschera," "Aida," "Otello," and "Falstaff," the latter written in 
1893, when the author had reached the age of eighty. 



EPOCH-MAKERS OF THE CENTURY 721 

Sovereigns. — William I., King of Prussia and Emperor of Germany, was 
the epoch-maker of the 19th century for his realm. He was son of Fred- 
erick William III., and born March 22. 1797. In 1849 he was made com- 
mander-in-chief of the Prussian army. He succeeded to the throne of Prus- 
sia in 1861, and immediately under the guidance of Bismarck set about 
those measures which were to end in the unification of the German states. 
These involved the war of 1866 with Austria, after which, in 1867 he became 
head of the powerful North German confederation, comprising 22 states, and 
a population of 29,000,000. Then followed the successful war with France, 
in 1871, which resulted in the complete realization of his idea of a united 
Germany, and on January 28, 1871, King William of Prussia was proclaimed 
Emperor of Germany, in the palace of the French kings, at Marseilles. He 
died March 9, 1888. 

Victor Emmanuel. At the birth of Victor Emmanuel in 1820, Italy was a 
segregation of states or provinces, owned and played against one another by 
the chess-players of Europe. The policj^ of ambitious sovereigns to the 
north was to keep it divided and discordant. Victor Emmanuel became king 
of Sardinia at a time when Austria's power was well-nigh supreme in the 
belligerent Italian states. His plea with Austria that the Sardinian consti- 
tution should be protected, and its success, aroused for him the confidence of 
the Italian people, and paved his way to the Italian crown. In 1852 he 
secured the services of the masterly Count Cavour, the Bismarck and Glad- 
stone of Italy, for his premier and guide. Through Cavour's influence 
France united with Sardinia against Austria. The war which followed and 
the peace of Villafranca completed Emmanuel's task, and made him king of 
a united Italy, over which he reigned successfully for eight years, dying on 
January 9, 1878. 

Czar Alexander II. The epoch-maker of Bussia during the 19th century 
was Alexander II., born April 29, 1818. Of the many imporant events of 
his reign, which began in 1855, the most illustrious was the abolition of serf- 
dom in his dominions, which gave freedom to 23,000,000 subjects. He was 
killed by anarchists in 1881. 

Francis Joseph. This emperor of Austria-Hungary was born August 18, 
1830, and succeeded to the throne of Austria in 1848, and of Hungary in 
1867. Though defeated in wars with France, by which he lost Italian pro- 
vinces, and with Germany by which he lost Schleswig-Holstein, he managed 
through an unprecedently long reign, in some part of which he was both 
emperor and legislature, to hold together an empire composed of heterogene- 
ous Germans and Slavs, a task that would have proved impossible with a less 
wise and respected ruler. He survived the century, and the question also 
lived, what of the empire after his death ? 

Victoria, Queen and Empress. Alexandrina Victoria Guelph. whose reign 
was the longest in English annals, and covered the epoch-making time of 
Great Britain during the nineteenth century, was born in London, May 24, 
1819. She was the daughter of the Duke of Kent, fourth son of George III. 
She became next in succession to the throne on the death of her uncle, King 
William IV.. which occurred June 20, 1837. Her ancestry dated back to 
Egbert, A. d. 827. To the wisdom of her mother she owed a well-ordered, 
peaceful, and happy childhood, with a view to the possibility of the English 



722 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX 1 " CENTURY 

throne. Special teachers were employed as her instructors, and she became 
proficient in music and drawing, as well as in the classic and modern lan- 
guages. She became equally proficient in the English constitution and gen- 
eral history. In 1831, when, at the age of twelve, it was deemed necessary 
to acquaint her with the fact that she was heir presumptive to the throne, 
the genealogical table of the royal family was placed in her book of history. 
After a study of it, she remarked that she was nearer the throne than she 
had thought, and that the reasons for her course of mental training had be- 
come obvious. 

About this time the young princess made her first appearance at court, and 
Parliament voted her an additional appropriation of $50,000 a year for her 
expenses. But as a rule her mother made use of the fast vanishing possibil- 
ity of the birth of other heirs who would take precedence of her, to keep the 
child, as long as propriety would permit, out of the whirl of court life, and 
to allow her education to proceed without interruption. The consequence of 
this maternal discretion was that Victoria came to the throne in excellent 
physical and mental health. 

She attained her legal majority — eighteen years — on May 24, 1837, and 
her birthday was celebrated throughout the country. On June 20, 1837, 
King William died childless. It became the immediate duty of the Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury and Lord Conyngham to inform the young princess of 
her uncle's death and her own right of accession. She held out her hand to 
the Archbishop to be kissed, and said, " I ask your prayers on my behalf." 
A meeting of the privy council was called for eleven o'clock. The princess 
was known to but few of the members, and there was a universal desire to 
ascertain what manner of person she might be. She appeared before this 
august body of a hundred leading nobles and statesmen with modest com- 
posure, bowed to the lords, took her seat, and read her declaration. The 
members of the council were then sworn to allegiance, kneeling and kissing 
her hand. The foreign ambassadors were then received one by one. All 
were captivated by the easy dignity of their girl-queen. Her speech was 
generally remarked upon for its perfect elocution. Of her speech a few 
months after, upon the dissolution of Parliament, Charles Sumner, who heard 
it, said, "I was astonished and delighted. I think I never heard anything 
better read." And of the same speech Fanny Kemble said : " I think it is 
impossible to hear a more excellent utterance than that of the Queen's Eng- 
lish by the English queen." 

Victoria promptly reformed her court, which was sadly in need of correc- 
tion, and removed the royal residence to Windsor Castle. Public admiration 
for her ability and grace of manner grew into enthusiasm, so that on the day 
of her coronation at Westminster Abbey, June 28, 1838, the pageant was not 
only one of unsurpassed splendor, but the populace were described as " coro- 
nation mad." This was the manifestation of a radically changed public senti- 
ment as to royalty, for the eclipse of monarchy under the four Georges had 
long been accepted as a humiliating fact, and respect for the throne had been 
well-nigh lost during William's reign. Altogether it was a bad time for a 
girlish queen to assume power ; yet her guiding hand was soon favorably and 
powerfully felt, and it has been said by more than one good authority that 
her accession at that special crisis was the salvation of monarchy in Great 
Britain. 



EPOCH-MAKERS OF THE CENTURY 723 

Her prime minister, Lord Melbourne, received at an early date a touch 
of her quality, when, after vainly urging her to sign a certain document, be 
testily withdrew it with the remark that it was not of paramount importance. 
tl Sir," replied tbe queen instantly, " it is with me a matter of the most para- 
mount importance whether or not I attach my signature to a document with 




QUEEN VICTORIA IN 1840. 
(After a painting by Win. Fowler.) 

which I am not thoroughly acquainted." And on another occasion, when her 
signature was asked to a document on tbe ground of "expediency," she re- 
plied, " I have been taught, My Lord, to judge between what is right and 
what is wrong, but expediency is a word I neither wish to hear nor to under- 
stand." The beginning of her reign was coincident with the inauguration of 
transatlantic steam navigation. In the second year of her reign the Whig 
ministry, at whose head stood Lord Melbourne, lost its working majority in 



724 TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX"' CENTURY 

Parliament. The queen immediately summoned the Tory leader, Duke of 
Wellington, to form a new government. Wellington suggested Sir Robert 
Peel as better qualified for the task. He accepted, but when the queen 
found that the change would affect all the ladies of her Bedchamber and 
household she repudiated Peel, and recommissioned Melbourne. For this she 
and her premier were taunted as being at the head of what was called the 
" Bedchamber Plot." Subsequently, when Peel succeeded Melbourne, the 
queen found in him and Wellington warm friends and trusted advisers. 
Among the other notable events of this year (1839) of her reign, were the 
formation of the Anti-Corn Law League, and the occupation of Cabul and 
Aden by the British forces. 

The queen's hand was sought in marriage by many kings, dukes, and princes 
of Europe. Her choice fell upon her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg 
and Gotha. It was a love-match, mingled with not a little diplomacy on the 
part of her aunt, the Duchess of Gloucester, and Albert's uncle, King Leo- 
pold. The wedding was celebrated with stately splendor at the Chapel 
Royal in St. James's Palace, on February 10, 1840. The marriage proved a 
happy one. All that the most affectionate and unselfish wife could be, she 
was to her husband. And the Prince Consort not only returned her affec- 
tion in full,, but became her faithful, laborious, vigilant, discreet adviser 
and helper, lifting from her shoulders the crushing load of state affairs, and 
opening anew era in her life. Careful and well informed observers have 
ranked Prince Albert among the statesmen of his day, and some have said 
that for the greater part of his twenty-one years of married life he was prac- 
tically King of England. 

On November 21, 1840, their first child, afterwards Empress Frederick of 
Germany, was born. An economic triumph of the year was the introduc- 
tion of cheap postage in England. In 1841 Sir Robert Peel succeeded Lord 
Melbourne as premier. British arms greatly extended political and com- 
mercial influence in the Orient by the taking of Canton and Amoy. < >n 
November 9 the Prince of Wales, who, January 23, 1901, succeeded to his 
mother's throne, was born. In 1842 two attempts were made to assassinate 
the queen. It became the foreign policy of the government not to further 
complicate the Indian question by pushing conquest in Afghanistan, so the 
British forces were withdrawn. The commercial prestige of England was 
greatly advanced in the Orient by the acquisition of Hong Kong as a port, 
and the general opening of all the Chinese ports to foreign trade. This year 
also witnessed the permanent foothold of Great Britain in South Africa, by 
absorbing the Boer republic of Natal. 

On April 25, 1843. Princess Alice was born. British possessions in India 
were enlarged by the annexation of Scinde. The queen and her husband 
paid a friendly visit to Louis Philippe of France, and received a return visit. 
In 1845 Mr. Gladstone became premier. England and France joined in war 
against the Argentine republic. The year witnessed the outbreak of the 
formidable Sikh rebellion. In the following year, 1846, this rebellion was 
suppressed and the Sikh territory was ceded to the East India Company. 
The aggravated question of the Northwest boundary of the United States 
was settled by treaty. The great famine in Ireland, and a somewhat indig- 
nant public sentiment in England, conduced to the repeal of the Corn-laws. 



EPOCH-MAKERS OF THE CENTURY 725 

For several years the Irish situation was serious, famine and insurrection 
going hand in hand. In 1848 Princess Louise was born. The Sikh rebel- 
lion was renewed. The Boer territory in South Africa was further trenched 
upon, and the farmers trekt across the Vaal River to establish the Trans- 
vaal republic. In 1849 the queen paid her first visit to Ireland, the Sikh 
rebellion was suppressed, and the Punjaub was annexed to British India. 
1850 witnessed the conclusion of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty with the United 
States. In 1851 the queen opened the great Exposition in London. In 1852 
the first Derby ministry came into power. In 1854 Great Britain partici- 
pated with France in the Crimean War against Russia. For several years 
the vigorous foreign policy of the government led to serious complications. 
In 1860 the Prince of Wales visited America. During the Civil War in the 
United States, the queen's sympathies were with the Union cause, and the 
very last public act of the Prince Consort was to sign in the name of the 
queen the paper which modified the demand of the ministry upon the United 
States with reference to seizure of the Confederate envoys Mason and Slidell. 
The paper in its unmodified form would have been equivalent to a declara- 
tion of war by England. 

Toward the end of 1861 Prince Albert's strength began to fail, and on 
December 14 he passed away. His death was a severe blow to the queen 
and to the nation. Two years afterwards she wrote in a letter to Dean 
Stanley. " I can never be sufficiently thankful t-hat I passed safely through 
those two years [the two first years of her reign] to my marriage. Then I 
was in a safe haven, and there I remained for twenty years. Now, that is 
over, and I am again at sea, always wishing to consult one who is not here, 
groping by myself, with a constant sense of desolation." 

In 1863 the Prince of Wales was married. For several years the govern- 
ment had serious trouble with the Fenian uprisings in Ireland and America. 
In 1867 the Dominion of Canada was constituted. 1868 witnessed a cabinet 
change from Derby to Disraeli, and from him to Gladstone; and the passage 
of a reform act for Scotland and Ireland. In 1874 Disraeli succeeded Glad- 
stone as premier. In 1875 Great Britain acquired control of the Suez canal, 
and in 1876 the queen was proclaimed Empress of India. In 1879 Great 
Britain was carrying on war in India against revolting tribes, and in South 
Africa against the Zulus. Two years later (1881) she attacked the Boers of 
the Transvaal, but met with defeat. In 1885 there was a further loss of 
military prestige by withdrawal from the Soudan campaign. In 1887 the 
queen celebrated her semi-centennial jubilee, and ten years later (1897) her 
diamond jubilee. In 1900 she witnessed the consolidation of her Austra- 
lasian colonies, and in 1901 the establishment of the Commonwealth of Aus- 
tralia. The closing years of her life were clouded by the attitude of her 
country in South Africa, and the losses of life and treasure entailed by the 
war with the Boers. It was said by many that her anxiety and grief over 
this situation hastened her death. Her last illness was brief and painless, 
and her death took place at < Ksborne, Isle of Wight, surrounded by her family, 
at 6.55 i>. m. on January 22, 1901, in the eighty-second year of her age, and 
sixty-fourth of her reign. 

Her death occasioned sincere mourning throughout the civilized world. 
She was succeeded by her oldest son, the Prince of Wales, who ascended 
the throne on January 23. 1901, and assumed the title of Edward VII. 



72G TRIUMPHS AND WONDERS OF THE XIX"' CENTURY 

The queen and Prince Consort were ever anxious as to tlie education of their 
children. They were trained to industry and economy. The daughters 
were taught accomplishments as well as sewing and cooking, and were given 
to understand that they were not to marry without affection, nor for mere 
money or reasons of state. Victoria was herself a careful manager in pecu- 
niary affairs. By thirty she had saved enough from her income to provide 
for the whole expense of her new place at Osborne, where she died, — about 
$1,000,000. — while for the Prince she had already saved from the revenues- 
of her Cornwall estate, $500,000. The Prince left her a valuable estate 
which at her death had come to be estimated at $25,000,000. This, added 
to her own judicious investments through the sixty-four years of her reign, 
gave her rank as one of the wealthiest of sovereigns, as well as of the world's 
persons. 

Already the "Victorian era" is being celebrated as the greatest period of 
progress that Britain ever knew, as the golden age of England. And this 
with much propriety and truth, for her reign teemed with instances of the 
exercise of power in the form of moral influence, with results important and 
far reaching. .Some of these instances showed statesmanship of a high order. 
She never took sides in partisan politics, nor antagonized the policy of her 
responsible ministers, though often advising them and even at times correct- 
ing their serious mistakes, never cheapening her advice by offering it in 
affairs of little moment, always straightforward, self-reliant, vigilant for the 
rights of the people, yet strenuous of law, neither. misled by flattery, nor 
coerced by fear, a hater of evil, a maker of peace. More than once, in hours 
of crisis, did she exercise a moral influence whose weight turned the course 
of events in both Europe and America. As an instance of this, the modifica- 
tion of Lord Palmerston's action in the Trent affair, already mentioned, may 
be referred to. And when Bismarck, surprised at the rapid recovery of 
France from the effects of the Franco-Prussian War, had resolved on a sec- 
ond invasion and humiliation, it was through Victoria's intervention that the 
aged German emperor was influenced to refuse a renewal of hostilities. 

If her reign pass into history as the " Victorian Era,'' then it will truly 
have many interesting chapters, some grandly inspiring, others — for such 
there must be — widely open to the criticism and judgment of posterity. It 
witnessed the greatest achievement in invention, the greatest advancement 
in science and art, and the most remarkable evolution in the relations of 
capital and labor that the world has ever seen.. jSIo equal period of world- 
history has seen such unparalleled growth of a people, and such unexampled 
expansion of national territory. At the beginning of her reign the popula- 
tion of the Empire was 127,000,000.- At her death it embraced 11,334,000 
square miles and 384,000,000 people. The United Kingdom itself grew from 
16.000,000 to 40,000,000 besides sending out its swarms of emigrants to people 
continents and isles. Commerce kept even pace with this advancement. Brit- 
ish ships sailed every sea. England's flag was known in every port of the world. 
During Victoria's reign the foreign trade of Great Britain increased 420 per 
cent. The great cloud on the Victorian era was England's wars, — the ques- 
tionable Crimean War of 1853-55; the Indian mutiny of 1857, which ran 
a frightful course of rapine and bloodshed ; the Soudanese campaign ; the 
Boer War in South Africa. 






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